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marcilene's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
meeklovestoread'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
Now, I will assume that the author made Ambrosia the way she was on purpose. Like we were supposed to dislike her and Sully because immediately she was giving me insecure vibes and not a "girl's girl" and I was right. Ambrosia frustrated me so much in the "then" chapters because I honestly can't begin to fathom how someone could be so callous, but a people pleaser, and yet internally insecure all at the same time. It took a while (I thought this book was just going to be a cliche mean girl trope), but this book did hold my attention and get me hooked. I was so anxious, angry, and frustrated for the rest of the book because Ambrosia and Sully's actions were downright reprehensible (Kevin is no saint either).
I still felt empathy for Ambrosia, Sully, and Kevin towards the end, however, I feel like they did get what was coming to them. It was really hard to have more sympathy because what they did was just downright wicked.
Overall this book was surprisingly very gripping and was super dark! I really liked how it shed light on the nuances and dark side to mean girl culture as well as displayed the different types of mean girls and how such a mentality can drive you to do unspeakable things. One thing I do wish though is that we got more of Sully's past. I don't think we got enough to fully understand why she was the way that she was.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cursing, Fatphobia, and Vomit
bookishgoob'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? N/A
3.5
I loved the exploration of toxic female friendships and the feeling that you’re competing with the group or person that you want to be friends with. The uncomfortable thought of “do i hate this person or do i love them? do i want to be friends? is this an enemy?” Mean girls come in so many different shells, and the fact that Amb couldn’t admit that she was mean is one of the biggest types of mean girls there is. The quote earlier in the book where sully tells amb “flora is a mean girl, she’s a bitch. at least i can own it” felt like a subtle stab at Amb, because amb did the same thing. she hid behind her moral high ground. destroying Flora and her relationships because Flora had something she want. She had to make flora the villain in her fantasy. </ I think it’s really a bad choice to have ambrosia go to jail and have Poppy basically take over her life. it didn’t feel like justice to me. It felt like just another generation of mean girls, where poppy is hiding behind her moral high ground of “she did this to my sister so i’ll do this to her” the last chapter made me angry. Killing off Sully and Kevin and having Amb go to jail made me feel like the author didn’t know really how she wanted to end the story. I also feel like killing Kevin was just Poppy’s way to get rid of him. He was an asshole, sure, but he didn’t have anything to do with Flora’s death. it was completely Sully and Amb. killing Kevin was a vendetta because she never liked him. getting rid of these characters was lazy and honestly boring. Also it wasn’t revealed or clear what actually happened to Flora. Did sully kill her?>
I was invested in this story and the way the story was told. i’ve come to enjoy dual timelines because it adds so much depth to the story. I enjoyed the story, again, up until the last chapter. it’s a quick read so i do recommend it.
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
jeanetterenee's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, and Sexual content