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aharper's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Abandonment
doodlebeanz'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
3.0
The characters, besides Daisy, Nana and Poppins, were all horrible people. Usually in these sorts of stories, at least someone in the family besides the main character is redeemable but there is literally no one redeemable to me in this story and that's kind of the point. Reading about how Daisy's sisters and her own mother and father would treat her and make her feel less than constantly without consequence made my heart physically ache for her. She was so young and already so broken and she didn't deserve any of that, I'm just lucky she at least had her Nana.
The whole Nana and Trixie killing everyone together was a bit out of left field. I was totally expecting Conor's dad or the agent, thinking maybe the agent was a secret child of nana's (at one point, Daisy describes that they have similar eye colors and smiles, but I guess that was to throw the reader off the scent). I did not think it would be Trixie and nana together, and that was just... a lot. Trixie is a 15 year old girl, why would she agree to murder her entire family? Also, why when nana died, did she not stay with Daisy? Why did none of them stay with her? If her soul is trapped in Seaglass, I can only imagine that so would Nana's and since the other people died there, wouldn't they also be trapped there? So why weren't all their souls just hanging out? Also, why was Rose the only one who saw Daisy right before they died? Because Daisy was in a different room? If Daisy's job in the afterlife is to usher souls into the afterlife (i.e., her job at the 'old folk's home') why did she not sense that the other family members were dead and go and usher them?? Is it only specific people? That part honestly seemed like lazy writing to me since it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Why did Daisy have an entire dialogue about making her way to Seaglass when Trixie and nana make it clear at the end that she's never left. I get that Daisy is in some sort of purgatory, while the others have potentially moved onto hell most likely, but why did she act as if she left the house and Nana greeted her at the door? I don't know, just some things are unexplainable and I don't know if Feeney did a good enough job attempting to explain them. She left a lot of the supernatural questions unanswered... like how did Daisy manage to write a book and play Scrabble? It is just so... bizarre.
The whole Trixie being able to speak and play scrabble with Daisy is honestly terrifying. Imagine you see your daughter playing Scrabble and the other pieces are moving but no one else is there? Horrifying.
If you like American Horror Story: Murder House then go read this book! I didn't even put the correlation together until my fiancé mentioned that the premise was the same as that show.
One of my favorite things in stories is when you finish the book and realize you're reading the book that the person in the story had wrote. We were reading Daisy's book the entire time! The only hint is the note before the book, presumedly from Nana's agent who published the real Daisy Darker's story, but you're waiting the entire time for Nana's new book to make an appearance when it's actually Daisy's book all along! I really liked that aspect.
Since I can't say much without giving away the entire story, it was a solid 3 star for me. Too many things were unexplainable and confusing so that is keeping it from being a 4-5 star, plus it was draggy and slow up until the last 70%ish percent, at least imo. The videotapes didn't gel for me with the rest of the story, and after reading some of the flashbacks, it felt like I was reading different books. Some of the flashbacks didn't matter at all, giving nothing in terms of plot or anything to the story, and it was just a slog to get through sometimes. But overall, a solid, fun, edge of your seat, page turner thriller!
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Car accident
Minor: Pregnancy
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
riviwriter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment
rchatterjee188'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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Blood, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria
samluh'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
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
misti'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? Yes
3.0
"Life is a performance, and we don’t all like the scripts we’re given; sometimes it’s best to write your own."
I have very mixed feelings about this one.
Most thrillers/mystery have three main questions, who did it, how did they do it, and why they did it.
Finding out who killed them was kind of predictable. I mean it made sense it was them, but still.
Why they killed them? Now that was plot twist. I did not see that coming. This whole goddam family sucks. They are really the worst. They did a horrible thing and went on living for years, did not care who they hurt. So glad they are all dead. Not one person who died was worth saving.
I know this is very vague but I am trying to avoid spoilers.
Well all I wanna say is that I liked it, but the killer reveal was a let down.
Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism and Abandonment
hannahcstocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
annaonthepage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, and Abandonment
The sexual assault is a very brief encounter between an 18yo and a 13yo, both drunk, and the 13yo tells the reader she is pleased at the attention, but it's already an uncomfortable situation and a polluted power dynamic. Thankfully this doesn't go all the way and ends when the girl says no.katiemhuang's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Car accident, Murder, and Abandonment