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jojesweden's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This might be one of the saddest and most tragic PNR heroines I've ever read. I don't mean that in a bad way, I just mean that the beatings she takes throughout the book are something above and beyond. Usually, I think something along the lines of "wow, this is a badass, she just gets back up and keeps going" but this time it's more "how does she get back up and keep going, even in the context of this narrative, it's almost too badass to be believable". It is believable though, because she does admit the injustice and unfairness in her internal monologue. We get to see that each punch she takes does, in fact, affect her emotionally, she just doesn't let it affect her spirit or behavior. At least not most of the time. The scene where she drives away in a car after an especially unfair experience and explicitly picks up her phone to start playing "Hate My Life" by Theory of a Deadman was especially poignant. Even so, she admits time and again that much of her suffering is jealousy, though I'd argue that it is warranted jealousy. All in all, I really like her and feel for her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment