kassiebee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i went into this book not knowing a thing- not even the synopsis. i saw the creepy cover (with the cat) and i thought “this looks spooky…lets do it”.
as i read the first few chapters, i was fully expecting a mysterious, killer-catching, revenge having, story. until the
Spoiler
D.I.D implications started. i caught on pretty fast, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. I was intrigued but, I’m not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed too. the mystery of Girl with Popsicle really got me in the mood to figure out how, when, and where Ted pulled this all off. and SO excited to read a thrilling escape by Lauren and Olivia. I didn’t care if it didn’t make sense that Lauren could understand cats. (a flaw on my part)BUT… after my excitement wore off, and changed my expectations… i was glad (accepted) where the story was going. As i read on, i found myself intrigued by the explanation of it all. it all really, really made sense. And i enjoyed it. i LOVED how Ward was able to make me feel icky about Ted at the beginning, to making me happy for him in the end. love that.
All in all, the slow reveal of Ted’s psyche for us to figure out was fun- you can tell that Ward did her homework.
Now on to what I didn’t like…
Spoiler
Dee, Dee, Dee… had so much potential. i didn’t care for her. i appreciated and understood her role in the story, but her death did not affect me as much as I hoped/should have. and bug man?? that incident in the bar/store was just bizarre, how he was just kinda left there and not really mentioned again. that’s a bookish pet peeve of mine ‘‘v.v …Lastly , unpopular opinion, but i did not enjoy Olivia’s chapters …. oops. i found myself rushing through them to get to Lauren and Ted, even Dee. It took a while for her chapters to get interesting even though they had really important tidbits and clues. love this cute gay cat but i just idk…
would i re-read? nah
am i glad i did? yeah
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Death, Self harm, Child death, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Addiction
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Murder, Torture, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Homophobia
Minor: Religious bigotry and Abandonment
peoplecallmeteresa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Violence, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Physical abuse
doomluz'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
Spoiler
I was confused by the cat's perspective and figured early on that it had to be an alter for a character with DID. I didn't get the other twists until later on. This was sad, but interesting and felt like a respectful take on DID. I liked the writing.Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Torture, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Suicide
Moderate: Kidnapping, Stalking, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
catriona176'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
Minor: Grief and Homophobia
linlinlin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Spoiler
I have a loved one with DID so I was FURIOUS at the plot twist, ra ra I'm so sick of horror writers depicting mentally ill people as serial killers and villains etc when they're subject to so much violence. I'm really glad I stuck with it. My loved one didn't read it so I don't know what the DID perspective on it is, but I was really pleasantly surprised by the happy ending for Ted and the efforts to depict DID reasonably and accurately by Ward. A lot of the contents around DID was stuff I already knew but worth reading if you don't.Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, and Torture
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, and Body shaming
Minor: Homophobia and Suicide attempt
The content warnings are gnarly but there's a lot of context for most of the worst of it that ameliorates itilaxaria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death of parent, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Hate crime, Torture, Self harm, Homophobia, and Fatphobia
Minor: Eating disorder
kurumipanda'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Child death
Minor: Sexual content and Homophobia
raalux's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Having finished the book, I wish I could say so, so much more about it, but I truly think it's a book best experienced with as little previous knowledge about it as possible, so I will keep my thoughts to myself and simply note down some words that evoke the feelings I had as I was finishing up: heart-breaking, tender, horrifying, compassionate, hopeful, beautiful, maddening.
To clarify one last thing: I guessed the main twist a little less than halfway through. I still found it an engaging, surprising and fascinating read. There were still plenty of surprises in store for me, but I don't think knowledge of the twist makes or breaks the experience of reading this book.
Graphic: Confinement, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
Moderate: Homophobia and Animal death
pipbiz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Kidnapping
Minor: Homophobia
cheyenne_g's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Torture
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Homophobia