Reviews

This was a difficult one. I struggled through the first few chapters because everyone was too typical, too perfect, too poised. But I am really glad I stayed the course.

Let me be clear - this book covers extremely heavy subject matter. The entire story revolves around a rich family whose youngest brother is accused of raping an unconscious girl. And it gets worse. Lolita-worse.

But the writing was incredibly well done. You end up disliking all of the characters and, well, I'd say more but I don't want to give it away.

Either way - the author did a really great job of writing one of those 'rich criminal' novels from the flipped point of view.

This'll get stored on my shelves alongside MY DARK VANESSA, KNOW MY NAME, SHUGGIE BAIN, and LOLITA.

TW: rape, childhood trauma, sexual abuse

bethjane's review against another edition

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4.0

This book gave me the ick. It was hard to read. But the characters were so well done and the plot was really good. A really wonderfully written family/court drama. Uncomfortable and dirty and raw, but isn’t that life?

hughesgalen's review against another edition

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2.0

This is a tough book to review. I usually reserve a 1 star rating for books that have no redeemable qualities and this one was close. However, the writing was done fairly well and I think the first two parts of the book had a compelling momentum that kept me engaged.

The characters are wildly unlikable, their relationships are strange, and the story is very disturbing. I understand what the author was trying to do with the subject matter, but it didn’t land for me at all. It didn’t feel like it did any service to victims, even if it was trying to show the reality of these situations and offer a different POV. I was initially interested, but that interest waned quickly.

Some of the material just felt gratuitous and generally icky to me. The third and final part of the book especially “gave me the ick”. I can’t think of a better way to say it. There is a slight twist that is predictable and doesn’t land well that only made this worse. I just wouldn’t recommend at all.

Content warning for most everything you can think of, this will be tough for many people to read.

books_coffee_oxfordcommas's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

gmm1966's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

colleenclementine's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 (rounded up)

I don't know what to think!! This was described as "Gone Girl meets Gossip Girl" which got me very excited, but don't listen to that - it's not. This is not a thriller at all (IMO) but was still very good and interesting and kept me engaged

You can see the "twist" coming from miles away, but when it was being revealed I was very much like "no, dont let me be right, noooo." Would recommend to others, will probably actually remember the plot (unlike others that I forget) but probably don't need to read again

oliviabrcka's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-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

1.0

terrible exploration of an influential family's involvement in a sexual assault trial. felt like the author was on the side of the assaulter the whole time. ending was awful.

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