Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Girl A

Where to begin? I hated this book and I had super high hopes for it. I guess it's marketed as a thriller but I didn't know that, I just thought the premise sounded great. It starts off confusing, has a few bright spots, but mostly just dragged for me. So let's talk about what I didn't like:
Problem#1: the characters
I never understood what people meant about enjoying character-driven stories until now. I couldn't connect with ANY of the characters. I didn't care about them or their plight and I was uninterested and unmoved by them. This has never happened to me where there wasn't at least one character I liked. I hated all of them, including Girl A (Lexi) herself. She has issues with a capital I and although she had tons of therapy, so much i still unresolved. I won't even get in yo my issues with the rest of the siblings.

Problem #2: character development (or lack thereof)
You got no sense of who the siblings really were as people because we saw everything through Lexi's lens. So they don't have the nuance that fully developed characters do. You get glimpsed in to them but not the why's and wherefore of it all. They do provide some context and help the story along but that's about it.

Problem #3: the chapter lengths! OMG. It was like they were never-ending. At first, I thought that I had missed something but nope. They really are one great long chapter. This probably would've been okay if the perspective of the actual character the chapter was about had been presented, but no.

Problem #4: the "twists"
They actually aren't bad per se. I felt dumb for not immediately seeing the first one as it was kinda in your face all along and I had QUESTIONS that the twist answered. Should've seen it coming and when it did I flipped back through the book and went; OH. Now these things make sense. Except there's no real resolution for them. Also the last twist (at least that I noticed) just solidified my feelings regarding a certain character.

***Note: I understand that 1 & 2 are very similar and related but I feel like in this case, they are two separate issues***

Now for the good: I didn't enjoy my time with this book so I don't have much good to say. It is a character study in trauma, grief, PTSD and family. So there's that.

Overall, I don't think that I'd personally recommend this to anyone although lots of people have enjoyed it. Trgger and content warnings abound so be sure to check those out before reading.

Content Warnings

alylentz's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

I couldn't put this one down while reading but don't quite know what to make of it after. Definitely dark and difficult material, but I saw the twist coming and would have liked a deeper reckoning with what the trauma and recovery might mean for these characters instead of a thriller-like twist, especially in a book that's clearly so interested in the psychology of these siblings. I also think that this was a little hard to keep straight in terms of timeline, recollections vs. the present in audiobook form, and I would probably read it in print if I had the choice.

Content Warnings