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neverlandpages4's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
• I liked how the book immediately gets to the point. The characters, the mystery, and everything else was introduced in the first chapter and I was already suspicious of everyone.
• The chapters were short, it’s fast-paced, and almost every chapter ends with a shocking line that makes you want to immediately read the next one.
• It’s narrated in past and present POVs but you don’t actually get the full story about what happened until the very end which got repetitive because the past POV didn’t really have much other than friendship drama.
• I was really interested at first, but halfway through, almost everything was about the main character’s snowboarding career.
• Honestly, this might as well be categorized as a sports books because of the amount of details and info dumps about snowboarding this had. To be fair, I’m not in the least bit interested in snowboarding so maybe that’s why I was really bored every time the main character talked about it, but it still took over the main story. The drama and competitiveness surrounding the characters became the main focus and I really didn’t like that. There were also really weird sexist comments and stereotypes about women in sports
• I didn’t like the main character either, she used every chance she got to make sure everyone knew she’s “not like other girls” because she likes sports…
• Also, nothing the characters did made sense, you’d think they’d try everything they could to get out and get help but instead, all they did was drink and complain
• The ending has to be one of my least favorites in any thriller I’ve read. Not only was it obvious from the start, but it was also petty and childish
• I think I would’ve liked this a lot more if there was less snowboarding details and more mystery
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Gun violence, Sexism, and Suicide
Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
I got this book from Once Upon a Bookclub. It came with gifts that were connected to the story that you couldn’t open until you got to certain pages. That was a good motivator to start this book and read it quickly, but the writing is pretty good and the story has a lot of twists and turns so that helped too. The gifts were a lot of fun. This book was, as far as mystery/suspense whodunnit murder stories go, pretty good. About 3/4 of the way in, I guessed part of the mystery but the details surrounding it were definitely surprising. The overarching themes of competition and the need to succeed are universal and the characters, even at their worst, are pretty likeable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Medical trauma
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Suicide