The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
mfrisk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Gore
Minor: Abandonment
regans's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual harassment
longlost'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
the good:Â hartl's brand of dark humour used to tell this story made it feel very engaging to me, but that's very much personal taste. i liked the characters - the core vampire trio (later quartet) were easy to love for their quirks and i found what we did learn about their backstories and histories to be genuinely interesting and at times heartbreaking. holly's issues w/ her mother also really spoke to me when they did become front and centre, and i liked
the bad (and the Ugly): so. the entire premise of the book is the three girls who were coerced by the main villain - a vampire creep who preys on vulnerable, isolated teenagers - teaming up to kill him so he can't ensnare anymore victims. and then we spend the entire book developing a romance between holly and parker of which the inherent weirdness of it is never really acknowledged ? like yea, we know that holly genuinely cares because we're reading things from her point of view and there's a lot of emphasis on how being Turned pauses you at that point in time meaning that holly is Technically still 16 but. it is just, not that simple ? she's been existing for like 30 years and parker is. a teenager. maybe there could have been ways to approach it well but here it just felt.... extremely brushed over despite a major plot point of the story being how the villain did similar things to the main character & her friends. the romance felt kinda bland too but tbf i was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt until the out of nowhere underage sex scene which very nearly made the book a DNF for me but there wasnt much of the story left at that point and i wanted to keep to my rule about having read a book in full before writing an in-depth review like this and i felt like these issues were glaring enough that they needed to be discussed in context of the story which is. as explained, never really addressed by the author other than holly being like "oh no if we date parker will eventually grow old and die" which. doesn't even begin to address the juxtaposition between the entire revenge plot and holly and parker's relationship. the overall ending seems to be contentious from reading other reviews here but tbh at that point id disengaged emotionally so i dont have any real thoughts on that.Â
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Sexism, Abandonment, Dementia, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Confinement, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
kt2e56's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Each character spoke exactly the same despite their age/time period differences. Like the entire book felt like one person arguing with themself.Â
The book was told from Hollyâs point of view but she had no real personality to her.Â
Roseâs personality was just the author describing her outfits (and she was the only character who ever got such devoted details when it came to clothing. Everyone else might have been naked based on the lack of description they received).Â
Idaâs personality was that she was supposed to be the dark, edgy one who makes âquirkyâ art projects using the bodies of her victims but like thatâs literally it. Just that one note played over and over and over again.Â
Parker was beautiful. Thatâs it. Beautiful (no other character had the same level of description when it came to physical appearance) and unbelievably foolish because
Side characters were also given just one personality trait per person.
Itâs a shame this book was as bad as it was because the premise sounded great and I
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Dementia, and Sexual harassment
ghostlyprince'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? No
2.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Torture, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Bullying, Dementia, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
ghostreadin's review against another edition
- 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
1.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexism, Gore, Death, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
rachellyeah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Torture, Blood, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, and Dementia
sssssoup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
The plot itself was fine, and I was okay with the resolution in the end, but there were a lot of glaring issues related to the vampire lore that took away from my enjoyment of the story.
The characters were also not very interesting. Despite all their trauma and the authorâs attempts to make them sympathetic, I didnât really feel bad for any of them. They seemed boring and shallow, and the fact that they all only got one distinct personality trait made them run together in my mind.Â
Overall, I like the ideas present in the story, but the execution was lackluster and forgettable at best.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment, Misogyny, Sexism, Dementia, Sexual harassment, Bullying, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury
kynajayne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual harassment
bradleygiselle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Blood, Bullying, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence