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ofpagesandparagraphs's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, and Death of parent
dmariefern's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol
readingwithbec'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
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, and Car accident
meliemelo'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? Yes
2.75
It's not a bad crime novel, and there were definitely some very good ideas in there, but it definitely doesn't compare to the author's previous works.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Death of parent
nadias_littlelibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal death
thefictionalhevschwar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Dementia
sleeson's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
juci's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The story is complex enough that it kept me engaged and interested in trying to figure out the mysteries and find the missing pieces by myself. Without giving any spoilers, I just want to say I appreciated that while some parts of the puzzle were easy to put together, there were a few twists throughout the book, even towards the very end, which caught me by surprise. In the end, I felt satisfied when everything finally clicked.
Most of the characters are quite unlikable in my opinion, but that feels intentional - they’re raw, imperfect, and complex. There aren’t clear “good” or “bad” characters, which I appreciate. It gives more depth and realness to the story.
I also like Hawkins’ writing style and found the nonlinear timeline (constantly jumping back and forth in time to tell the story) fitting for this novel. It’s funny that at one point one of the characters is reading another character’s book and criticizes this exact style of writing, saying
“Like the last one, that awful crime thing. Just start at the beginning, for God’s sake. Why couldn’t people just tell a story any longer, from start to finish?”
Then Hawkins proceeds to do that exact thing again, jumping back in time to give us another piece of the puzzle. This is just a small thing that stuck with me, but there are lots of small lines like that in the book, which I found pretty clever, and I thought they gave another layer to the novel.
All in all, an enjoyable read, and I’d definitely recommend it.
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Blood, and Car accident
Minor: Incest
stephbakerbooks's review
- 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
4.0
First off, Rosamund Pike doing the narration was fantastic! I was captivated the whole time and I loved her different voices for the characters. I highly recommend going the audio route for this one!
Secondly, the characters, though not really likable, were interesting and succeeded in making me feel empathy for them, even if I was annoyed with their choices. Though I must say, they've all been through A LOT of trauma, so beware the content warnings. And I think most of them even got some nice development over the course of the story. Not a ton, but enough to where they look different by the end.
The mystery and plot were compelling enough to keep me reading. I managed to figure out some things, so I was a little disappointed that I wasn't very surprised by the ending, but I still liked how it wrapped things up for the most part. Overall, a really good quick thriller if you're looking for something to get lost in for a while.
Thanks so much to Libro.fm, Penguin Audio, and the author for my ALC!
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, and Physical abuse
Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Dementia