themoodreader's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Vomit, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body shaming, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders
anawilson05's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It's a really quick read but nothing mind-blowing. Decent story structure and a few interesting albeit slightly predictable twists
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Kidnapping
bookishchaos's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Great idea but I knew exactly who "did it" in the first few chapters, it wasn't hard to figure out. There was still some twists and turns throughout the rest of the book but nothing spectacular.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Infidelity
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood and Vomit
hannah_steven's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Murder
sefrahudman's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This one was so good! Caution if you have a baby it might give you anxiety, but wow it was so so so good! I did not see the big plot twists coming and the end had me like 🫨 I was shook. The foreshadowing was so good and the only reason it wasn’t a 5star is just the swearing. But like honestly it was like 4.5 stars!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
mrsmishler's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Child abuse, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Murder and Infidelity
Minor: Violence
lottieingham's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, and Vomit
maseface's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Second time reading this book. I reread it because the first time I read it I wasn't on Storygraph and I wanted to log it on this site.
Firstly this isn't a bad mystery. I remember reading it the first time not knowing where it was going. Reading it back the 2nd time most things still make sense and there's only a couple of things that are weird once you know the ending.
My main problems with this book are some issues. For one thing this book has a serious Madonna/Whore complex. All women in this book are either saintly mothers who only care about their children, or evil sexually promiscuous witches who hate children. The way how they talk about the latter is incredibly malicious. It's sad that this is written by a woman because these depictions are seriously outdated and need to change. Women characters should be so much more.
Speaking of outdated depictions this book's portrayal of mental health is pretty problematic. I'm not an expert on mental health and I only suffer from depression and anxiety. But I can tell this is terrible representation portraying mentally ill people as violent and dangerous.
I'm going to be reading another Shari Lapena book soon. I hope the next one is better. It's more recent so maybe her depictions are slightly more empathetic.
Firstly this isn't a bad mystery. I remember reading it the first time not knowing where it was going. Reading it back the 2nd time most things still make sense and there's only a couple of things that are weird once you know the ending.
My main problems with this book are some issues. For one thing this book has a serious Madonna/Whore complex. All women in this book are either saintly mothers who only care about their children, or evil sexually promiscuous witches who hate children. The way how they talk about the latter is incredibly malicious. It's sad that this is written by a woman because these depictions are seriously outdated and need to change. Women characters should be so much more.
Speaking of outdated depictions this book's portrayal of mental health is pretty problematic. I'm not an expert on mental health and I only suffer from depression and anxiety. But I can tell this is terrible representation portraying mentally ill people as violent and dangerous.
Spoiler
This might be something I noticed on only my second readthrough but I despise Marco. What he puts his wife through is unforgivable? He knew his wife had depression and subjects to an absolutely nightmarish situation.I'm going to be reading another Shari Lapena book soon. I hope the next one is better. It's more recent so maybe her depictions are slightly more empathetic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Ableism
_nicole_g's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Murder
thebonbon923's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It would’ve gotten more stars if the ending was better. I was so angry when I got to the last page.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Murder