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lyonsdenprojects's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death
modernmatilda's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death
alatedbibliophile's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I received an advanced copy of this book to give my honest review. Everything in this review is written in my own words for no other compensation than the e-copy of this book. For more information on my review policy, click here.
This was my first read by Kelly Andrew. I have to admit, the cover immediately drew me in, and then I read the blurb and knew I had to read it. Fantasy? Check. Creepy aesthetic? Check. Friends-to-enemies-to-lovers vibes? Check, check, check!
This book was [mostly] a pleasant surprise. It was wonderfully written with some lovely prose that I greatly enjoyed reading. I love fantasy and paranormal, so the premise of this story was right up my alley.
- the monsters in this book were genuinely creepy and a couple times what I was reading gave me a chill I wasn’t expecting!
- Peter was a walking red flag and I loved it.
- since I didn’t read the first book Kelly wrote, I had no prior attachments to or expectations for Wyatt’s friends and the way they were introduced to this book was kind of jarring. They were just all of the sudden there. Maybe if I’d read the other book, it wouldn’t have felt so out of the blue, I’m not sure.
- this has no merit to the story whatsoever, but this is absolutely one of my favorite covers ever. It’s gorgeous!
Overall, I enjoyed this book as a whole, but I’ve gotta admit…the ending almost ruined it for me. Oftentimes the ending will either make or break a book, and this one kind of broke the book in my opinion. This will not be a re-read. Honestly, if I’d known how the book was going to end, I probably wouldn’t have ever picked it up to begin with. If you have book ending anxiety, I have a spoiler tag below that you can click on. Otherwise, that’s all I’m going to say about it. (I took the spoilers out of this review. If you want to read them, feel free to visit my blog)
3/5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Sexual content, and Death of parent
dani_reis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal death
Animal death is non pet and super minor.eenicem's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wyatt and Peter/Petyr are both really compelling as characters and really make you want to root for them. Even when things are really tense between them or their circumstances are really fraught, their dynamic feels very realistic and natural instead of forced for the plot.
And the plot as it unfolds is really exciting and keeps the revelations coming. I’d definitely recommend this book to anybody who enjoys supernatural YA with high stakes and characters who’ve seen some shit and will definitely see more before the book is through. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s worth it.
(ARC received through my job as a bookseller)
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship