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maimoona's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol
tlanereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Honestly, I regret wasting my time on this book, and I regret losing sleep to finish it.
I was following along and tracking it. I was getting through it without hating it.
But then it got to the ending.
What a waste of time.
There are very few instances when I think that these endings work.
This was not one of them.
Follows is essentially my rant.
Because my major issue with the novel has to deal with the ending of the novel/the "big reveal," most of this will be blacked out for spoilers.
Another user, "mrsoz", brought this up as well. When you write a story from a first-person, present tense perspective, you cannot successfully have the twist that the author attempted.For the entirety of the book, we follow one version of the protagonist. We get to experience the emotions and reactions of the character from an internal perspective. There are scenes where the MC reacts to something internally that do not match up with this grand final reveal. If we are meant to believe that the MC plotted this murder, knew about the cheating, knew about the "betrayal" of Anne, why would the MC react internally the way that she did? At one point, she imagines herself tackling and beating Anne, spinning her around (??) and slamming her into the desk.
Again, there are some narratives that can successfully pull off the whole "the narrator is the bad guy all along" twist, but in these cases, you still need to remain true to the character you have introduced. If all of the emotions and reactions are external, played up for an audience, then they can make sense, but our MC does not express this reaction to Anne externally. This is entirely internal, performed for no audience except herself (and the reader). Knowing what she knows, it doesn't make sense.
In this novel, our MC makes a sudden and drastic shift that contradicts all of her feelings and reactions from earlier.
If she truly did the crime, after the reveal, it should make sense (in hindsight) that she was acting the emotions, not actually feeling them.
Instead, now it feels like the entire story was a waste. I wasted my time reading about evidence and conversations, about an MC whose feelings and commentary weren't real (Why would she privately wonder if maybe he did kill the victim/was capable if she knew the answer?).
I understand misdirection--leaving clues that are meant to make the "big reveal" big. All of the leads and misdirections in this book are flimsy. They are introduced briefly and loosely, brought up and then dropped. Nothing feels substantial or important. It doesn't feel like you are solving things alongside the protagonists.
The characters themselves are also flimsy and unbelievable. They all seem like caricatures, the extremes of who they are meant to portray. Outside of the female MC, no one has depth of any kind. You can get away with this for some characters (the overbearing MIL), but not all.
Some characters are introduced and feel purposeless and forced, only meant to help a later (underdeveloped) scene.
Adam, the male MC, spirals at an unrealistic speed, a matter made worse by the fact that the passage of time is difficult to track. A character that we are supposed to recognize as competent and (at least relatively) intelligent becomes the most thoughtless character, acting irrationally without natural (or believable) progression.Almost immediately after returning from his plea in court, he meets a "journalist" whom he instantly trusts with no reason to. He relies on her for everything and eventually even tries to kiss her. Mind you, their relationship is never developed. She's a PI for Scott Summers, you say? Then she sucks at her job. She rarely interacts with Adam one-on-one. Adam has no reason to immediately rely on Rebecca this way other than feeling alone. If the author had built up his paranoia and descent into "madness" prior to their meeting, it could have worked. If she had build up the relationship between them, it could have made sense. But she doesn't, so it flops.
The decisions that Adam makes relies on the reader believing that he is a man that is at the end of his rope and acting impulsively in a panic, but the author never convinces us of this, meaning the rest of his scenes feel absurd.
Beyond that, some of them really are that: absurd.
Adam escapes the jail and no one notices. Weird but okay, I can suspend belief for that.
Then he walks all night and sleeps in the woods? No one is coming after him yet? He makes it to a truck stop and steals clothes? He rambles about the bugs? Most of all, he just HAPPENS to have the phone number to a journalist he has met a handful of times memorized. He knows exactly where she lives despite never having seen her away from the lake house?
It doesn't make sense. Hence, "absurd."
TLDR: I regret reading this and left feeling like I wasted my time.
I was following along and tracking it. I was getting through it without hating it.
But then it got to the ending.
What a waste of time.
There are very few instances when I think that these endings work.
This was not one of them.
Follows is essentially my rant.
Because my major issue with the novel has to deal with the ending of the novel/the "big reveal," most of this will be blacked out for spoilers.
Another user, "mrsoz", brought this up as well. When you write a story from a first-person, present tense perspective, you cannot successfully have the twist that the author attempted.
Again, there are some narratives that can successfully pull off the whole "the narrator is the bad guy all along" twist, but in these cases, you still need to remain true to the character you have introduced. If all of the emotions and reactions are external, played up for an audience, then they can make sense, but our MC does not express this reaction to Anne externally. This is entirely internal, performed for no audience except herself (and the reader). Knowing what she knows, it doesn't make sense.
In this novel, our MC makes a sudden and drastic shift that contradicts all of her feelings and reactions from earlier.
If she truly did the crime, after the reveal, it should make sense (in hindsight) that she was acting the emotions, not actually feeling them.
Instead, now it feels like the entire story was a waste. I wasted my time reading about evidence and conversations, about an MC whose feelings and commentary weren't real (Why would she privately wonder if maybe he did kill the victim/was capable if she knew the answer?).
I understand misdirection--leaving clues that are meant to make the "big reveal" big. All of the leads and misdirections in this book are flimsy. They are introduced briefly and loosely, brought up and then dropped. Nothing feels substantial or important. It doesn't feel like you are solving things alongside the protagonists.
The characters themselves are also flimsy and unbelievable. They all seem like caricatures, the extremes of who they are meant to portray. Outside of the female MC, no one has depth of any kind. You can get away with this for some characters (the overbearing MIL), but not all.
Some characters are introduced and feel purposeless and forced, only meant to help a later (underdeveloped) scene.
Adam, the male MC, spirals at an unrealistic speed, a matter made worse by the fact that the passage of time is difficult to track. A character that we are supposed to recognize as competent and (at least relatively) intelligent becomes the most thoughtless character, acting irrationally without natural (or believable) progression.
The decisions that Adam makes relies on the reader believing that he is a man that is at the end of his rope and acting impulsively in a panic, but the author never convinces us of this, meaning the rest of his scenes feel absurd.
Beyond that, some of them really are that: absurd.
Adam escapes the jail and no one notices. Weird but okay, I can suspend belief for that.
Then he walks all night and sleeps in the woods? No one is coming after him yet? He makes it to a truck stop and steals clothes? He rambles about the bugs? Most of all, he just HAPPENS to have the phone number to a journalist he has met a handful of times memorized. He knows exactly where she lives despite never having seen her away from the lake house?
It doesn't make sense. Hence, "absurd."
TLDR: I regret reading this and left feeling like I wasted my time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, and Murder
Minor: Rape and Sexual violence
Discussion of possible sexual violence due to the nature of the crimeskinneam's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
The minute I started reading I literally didn’t stop until I finished it! I’d say that’s a good Saturday!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, and Death of parent
cmason101's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
mckenziecreads's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- 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
This genuinely may be the worst book I’ve ever read. The writing, ending, character development, and story are just bad. It was the kind of bad that may be cringe and sigh with disappointment more than once. I unfortunately cannot recommend this book to anyone I want a cordial relationship with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Vomit, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Stalking, Abortion, and Alcohol
So many plot holes that never get filled.raindrops333's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Murder
Minor: Gaslighting
kroosee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is so interesting. It keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time you’re reading it just to snatch the chair from beneath you when you think you know what’s going on
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Death and Murder
itscarleesmith's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Alcohol
mcmao'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
5.0
So glad I found this author via her witty TikTok’s. Scott was wrong - this book is amazing, especially the unexpected ending!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Stalking, and Pregnancy
bookishchaos's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
3 stars is me being generous. I LOVE Jeneva Rose but this was pretty bad. Very repetitive, plot twist was obvious. She has books way better than this one so I don't know why this is so overhyped.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Murder