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christy_mitten's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Murder
danielle2121's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Okay first of all, I loooove the idea of this plot! Do I think it was pulled off in the best way possible? Unfortunately not…
The first 300 pages were so unbelievably slow and some chapters just completely unnecessary and yet after all that, somehow I still don’t feel like the characters were fleshed out or interesting enough even after hearing chapter after chapter about them.
I loved Evie, Theta and Henry though, I truly feel like I knew them by the end of the book. Everyone else fell a little flat for me, especially Memphis and Mabel’s characters (although I love Jericho’s back story, that was very interesting)
Some parts were creepy which I loved but just not creepy enough! (The whistling will haunt me..) I’d love to have seen more creepiness instead of many chapters about Evie going to speakeasies or talking about clothes… I understand the author needing to emphasise this was set in the 1920’s but I can set the scene myself…
I felt a little lost in places, the plot wasn’t super easy to follow for me sometimes, maybe due to the fact I didn’t care enough for the characters that were in the scenes.
The ending was well wrapped up though, with just the perfect amount of questions remaining about what might come next.
Unfortunately I don’t think I will be continuing with the series though.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse
glens'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
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Grief, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal death, Death, Rape, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Abortion
cdpow'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? No
4.25
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Child death and Domestic abuse
Minor: Racism
r1dh4'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? Yes
4.25
The characters were also all really well-developed in my opinion. Even minor characters that did not show up for very long felt like real people. At times it did feel like there was just a lot of information on the character's backstory coming in at once, but considering the rest of Bray's writing style it didn't feel that out of place to me and it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book at all.
Additionally, the plot doesn't really pick up speed until about halfway through the book. However, even though the plot started a bit later, I still enjoyed the beginning because it provided some good exposition and allowed the reader to become familiar with the characters and their motives/personalities. When the plot actually does get underway, I found myself really wanting to know what happened next. Not only does the book feel rightly creepy, but there's a lot of movement between places and characters that was handled well and prevented me from feeling bored.
Along with this, the story itself also felt really well-crafted; you could tell the author had taken a long time to research and write this book, and you could see the carefully laid threads that allowed this book to finish completely while still leaving some great material for the next few books. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the romances; each felt either forced or too fast. I feel like some extra development would help this out, which I'm looking forward to seeing in the next few books.
Honestly, since I've heard that the subsequent books are better than the first, I definitely will be reading the next few, and I'm looking forward to continuing the series! I would also recommend this book to anybody, as long as they feel up to the longer page length and have checked out the content warnings (because there are quite a few). Overall, a great book to start off 2022!
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault
kirstym25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Racism
steffiraquel'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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Abandonment
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Abortion
mmikadze's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Racism, Abortion, and Murder
davidrb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Police brutality, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
This book is much more graphic than I was expecting, especially when it comes to the child death, sexual and domestic abuse, and animal death. Watch out!yaelaed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Abandonment