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gracescanlon's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Racism
vanesst's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
wogslandwriter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall, I enjoyed the story and it's nuanced and less nuanced analyses of how a story is affected by the author and vice versa. Some parts were feather-light and I felt accomplished for seeing them and noticing the themes. Other parts were extremely heavy-handed and felt a little silly to read.
I think having the "real world" elements be restricted entirely to correspondence was a really smart move and really pulled the book together.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
One of the main characters describes and incident from their past where a younger sibling dies in an accident. Another describes a childhood incident where a beating from a parent has pedophilic overtones, but there is an intervention before anything beyond physical violence occurs.justagir1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Stalking, and Gaslighting
Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
librarymouse'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, and Police brutality
bluecardinal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
bzliz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The story takes several turns and I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery along with Freddie and while I can’t say I was too shocked at the ending, there was just enough left that I hadn’t pieced together to be surprising. I believe the email subplot is the darkest part of the story because it’s meant to be the “real” world. I particularly like that although we see Hannah’s work and we see Leo’s response, we never see her directly nor do we see her messages to Leo. I just found that intriguing.
If you’re like me on occasion and need to see whodunnit, spoilers ahead:
The “real” Leo has been acting as a research resource for Hannah while he shops around his own book. He starts sending her photos of crime scenes, then bodies, claiming to have found the crime scene later but actually he killed those people and his emails get increasingly creepy with suggestions on how to brutalize characters or punish Freddie for falling for Cain. He finally tries to get to Hannah and is apprehended by Australian police. His final letter to her comes when he’s in jail.
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Alcohol
amberinpieces's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Medical content, Stalking, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, and Classism
schausjk's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Stalking and Death of parent
j_emerson18'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? It's complicated
4.75
I am honestly a little upset by the lack of depth or detail about the secondary story between two writers in which one is a serial killer. I would have loved more information about the two of them.
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content and Grief