greywolfheir's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Hate crime, Racism, Cursing, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Classism, Kidnapping, and Medical content
Minor: Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying
maregred's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Racism, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, and Death
rowanshartel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Panic attacks/disorders
lovealwaysadi's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Drug use, Gore, Addiction, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Classism
Moderate: Hate crime, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Minor: Confinement, Alcohol, Excrement, Racism, and Grief
brookey8888's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Drug use, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Addiction, Classism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Bullying, Racism, and Violence
hollyk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The ending felt a little messy and several threads were not tied up or even given a hint at what could potentially happen.
Really good though, creepy, and horror-filled. This book also tackles addiction, so be warned if that is a trigger for you
Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry
solenekeleroux's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Blood, Gaslighting, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism
Moderate: Murder, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Confinement, and Body horror
bookish_ann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Colonisation, Classism, Child death, Violence, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Addiction, Murder, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury
kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Murder, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Addiction, and Panic attacks/disorders
starrysteph's review against another edition
- 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
the good:
- atmospheric horror and good building of tension; plus the haunted house elements and general “eerie” feelings
- the commentary on gentrification and criminalization of weed (and the general war on drugs) and manipulation by those in power were well-integrated and definitely digestible for young readers (sometimes a little too hard hitting for adult readers).
- great characterization of our lead, marigold. i felt like we really got to know her.
- exploration of a blended family & the sweetest sibling relationship between marigold and sammy
the not-as-good:
- i was physically pained at the way marigold was treated by her family. it was so heartbreaking to watch them villainize her instead of HELP her. this girl had severe, severe anxiety and paranoia. at not one point does her mother try to bring her to a therapist or get her professional help, and no one explores any further way of supporting her. she’s so desperate to heal her trauma that she is hyper fixating on weed .. and her family (who should be her support system) are just calling her a junkie / drug addict every chance they get. why on earth wouldn’t her parents support her (maybe look into medical marijuana so she could access it safely)?!
- the opening was very, very slow and WAY too much of mari’s internal dialogue was focused on weed and bed bugs. the repetition was hard to get through. there were scary things happening around her .. but she didn’t really decide to get involved until the second half of the book. why was the first 30% SO slow and only for us to get one of the most abrupt thriller endings i’ve ever read?
- while the commentary i mentioned above was great, jackson falls a bit into the trap of wanting to say SO many things (gentrification, war on drugs, mental health, mass incarceration, televangelism, etc. etc.) at once that several threads started getting lost. it ended up getting a little messy.
- i guessed the ending pretty much immediately, which made me frown at some of the bigger plot holes during the buildup. predictability isn’t a negative for me, but the issues with the “twist” were. i also think jackson could have had a bit more fun here; the buildup of horror was so great that i wanted to be a little more shocked and delighted at the ending.
- finally, i felt that the character of piper was a little too “adult-cartoon-villain” level cruel at the start. it was unbelievable .. i wished she’d been given a little more depth at the start. and mari’s treatment of her & the way she spoke about her was so sad, too. like .. definitely call out alec for his bad behavior. don’t be so hateful to the 10 yr old kid who suffered a major loss and has been hopping around from place to place! i wished mari came around to her sooner. i would have loved some sister moments.
CW: racism, panic attacks/disorders, drug use, addiction, fire/injuries from fire, death, phobias
Graphic: Child death, Racism, Mental illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Fire/Fire injury
minor animal injury