flowchelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Grief, Car accident, Misogyny, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, and Murder
poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Violence, Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, and Pregnancy
kayleejanes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Abortion, Death, Grief, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, and Pregnancy
mavensfavoritehoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Vomit, Child death, Body horror, Violence, Car accident, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Hate crime, Blood, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Some people felt nauseous reading this book and actually ended up vomiting.gothmiku's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Car accident, Miscarriage, Abortion, Child abuse, and Child death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Body horror, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Animal death, and Cancer
girl_in_the_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Dysphoria, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Miscarriage
cassi_dancer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Moderate: Car accident, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Grief, Child death, Infidelity, and Medical trauma
criticalgayze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
A part of me wants to say that I now at least have an understanding of the CoHo craze, but this is her only thriller, and I truly cannot imagine reading a book by her that was just the romantic parts of this one.
I fully intended to give this book 1.5-stars because I am absolutely sick of the trope of painting PPD as some kind of villainous trait in women, but I think that, while the narrator is still disgustingly judgmental of the kind of psychological trauma pregnancy and childbirth can put a woman through, Hoover herself seems (maybe?) to have mostly redeemed her own complicity in the trope with the book's ending. (Although I am largely as confused as the narrator as to whether this is actually the case or not)
Speaking of the ending, talk about rushed. I felt like, throughout the book, the order of escalation was out of whack, there were largely spurts of tension in amongst the drudgery of straight white horniness as opposed to well built and sustained suspense, and that the culminating scene was over largely before I even realized it had begun.
tl;dr: Not good writing, but I tore through it in two days, so maybe there's something to be said for the Hoover phenomenon.
Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Terminal illness, Blood, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Cancer, Confinement, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Car accident, Death, Alcohol, and Death of parent
metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
Moderate: Car accident, Pregnancy, and Violence
Minor: Cursing
anonymouse_user's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Abortion, Gaslighting, Child death, Blood, and Death