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soralune's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jessicaschick's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lilykn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
adriannasophiabooks's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
2.0
clairer23's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
beangoshe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
notesofacrocodile's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
well written, although in some parts it felt bogged down. the difficult and abusive relationship with the protagonist's mother was really well done; according to the about the author section, ella king has volunteered with anti-human trafficking and domestic violence charities and it is possibly partly stemming from this experience that her writing brings out the abuse and its effects on be protagonist with colour and detail.
mdarceyhall's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up because, once I reached the halfway mark, I couldn't put it down. This novel is very well-written and engaging. At times, I struggled empathizing with any of the characters, which drew me out of the narrative a bit. While I know Lily was dealing with the weight of trauma and abuse, thus making it difficult to proactively work on bettering her situation, some of her decisions felt odd and all over the place. As the tension built, I kept waiting for the "big" moment at the end that would offer a satisfying conclusion, but we never fully get there. The ending is...fine, though a bit tepid considering everything that happened in the rising action and climax. I would still recommend this, though with some reservations--especially for anyone not in the mood for physical and mental abuse and toxic family relationships.
paradise_library's review against another edition
3.0
I’m not sure how I feel about this… the first half was pretty slow and quite dull. There were lots of awful things hinted at, but nothing really happened. Around 60% of the way through, it started to improve but by the end of it I felt let down.
Bad Fruit deals with some truly awful things - there is a lot of abuse, but it’s never examined in enough detail and feels glossed over. Perhaps the author didn’t want to be too descriptive but the true horror isn’t realised because of it. The flashbacks were done well, although they were confusing at times when the location changed. It also wasn’t clear why her mother told Lily these stories; perhaps it was another type of abuse to terrorise her…
Characters were fairly two dimensional and never felt believable. The siblings seemed to look out for each other, yet at the same time bullied and reprimanded each other, despite everything. I struggled to get behind this, and why they would let Lily stay in the house after everything they had all been through. As for the father… he clearly broke his Hippocratic oath and was almost worse than the mother - yet throughout most of the story he was merely weak… it was only at the end he became evil, which again felt a bit odd.
It did raise some moral questions. If someone is abused as a child and they then go onto abuse their own children, how does society lay blame? That’s definitely an interesting topic, but is not explored by the author.
Some good elements, but overall it feels a bit unfinished and unrealistic. The formatting was also really bad and made it hard to read at times as words ran together. It also reads more like a family saga than a thriller.
Merged review:
I’m not sure how I feel about this… the first half was pretty slow and quite dull. There were lots of awful things hinted at, but nothing really happened. Around 60% of the way through, it started to improve but by the end of it I felt let down.
Bad Fruit deals with some truly awful things - there is a lot of abuse, but it’s never examined in enough detail and feels glossed over. Perhaps the author didn’t want to be too descriptive but the true horror isn’t realised because of it. The flashbacks were done well, although they were confusing at times when the location changed. It also wasn’t clear why her mother told Lily these stories; perhaps it was another type of abuse to terrorise her…
Characters were fairly two dimensional and never felt believable. The siblings seemed to look out for each other, yet at the same time bullied and reprimanded each other, despite everything. I struggled to get behind this, and why they would let Lily stay in the house after everything they had all been through. As for the father… he clearly broke his Hippocratic oath and was almost worse than the mother - yet throughout most of the story he was merely weak… it was only at the end he became evil, which again felt a bit odd.
It did raise some moral questions. If someone is abused as a child and they then go onto abuse their own children, how does society lay blame? That’s definitely an interesting topic, but is not explored by the author.
Some good elements, but overall it feels a bit unfinished and unrealistic. The formatting was also really bad and made it hard to read at times as words ran together. It also reads more like a family saga than a thriller.
Bad Fruit deals with some truly awful things - there is a lot of abuse, but it’s never examined in enough detail and feels glossed over. Perhaps the author didn’t want to be too descriptive but the true horror isn’t realised because of it. The flashbacks were done well, although they were confusing at times when the location changed. It also wasn’t clear why her mother told Lily these stories; perhaps it was another type of abuse to terrorise her…
Characters were fairly two dimensional and never felt believable. The siblings seemed to look out for each other, yet at the same time bullied and reprimanded each other, despite everything. I struggled to get behind this, and why they would let Lily stay in the house after everything they had all been through. As for the father… he clearly broke his Hippocratic oath and was almost worse than the mother - yet throughout most of the story he was merely weak… it was only at the end he became evil, which again felt a bit odd.
It did raise some moral questions. If someone is abused as a child and they then go onto abuse their own children, how does society lay blame? That’s definitely an interesting topic, but is not explored by the author.
Some good elements, but overall it feels a bit unfinished and unrealistic. The formatting was also really bad and made it hard to read at times as words ran together. It also reads more like a family saga than a thriller.
Merged review:
I’m not sure how I feel about this… the first half was pretty slow and quite dull. There were lots of awful things hinted at, but nothing really happened. Around 60% of the way through, it started to improve but by the end of it I felt let down.
Bad Fruit deals with some truly awful things - there is a lot of abuse, but it’s never examined in enough detail and feels glossed over. Perhaps the author didn’t want to be too descriptive but the true horror isn’t realised because of it. The flashbacks were done well, although they were confusing at times when the location changed. It also wasn’t clear why her mother told Lily these stories; perhaps it was another type of abuse to terrorise her…
Characters were fairly two dimensional and never felt believable. The siblings seemed to look out for each other, yet at the same time bullied and reprimanded each other, despite everything. I struggled to get behind this, and why they would let Lily stay in the house after everything they had all been through. As for the father… he clearly broke his Hippocratic oath and was almost worse than the mother - yet throughout most of the story he was merely weak… it was only at the end he became evil, which again felt a bit odd.
It did raise some moral questions. If someone is abused as a child and they then go onto abuse their own children, how does society lay blame? That’s definitely an interesting topic, but is not explored by the author.
Some good elements, but overall it feels a bit unfinished and unrealistic. The formatting was also really bad and made it hard to read at times as words ran together. It also reads more like a family saga than a thriller.
bianca_therese's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0