strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
The love story is not the main focus of the book seeing as it is not a romance and it is really barely there at all. Frankly, these girls have other, bigger things to worry about.
This is a horror story with a lot of body horror and murder so just be prepared. An infection has spread through the girls on an island and changes their bodies in terrible ways. It is a little Lord of the Flies esque in the way that have to fight for food and survival, but their bonds with each other are stronger.
I personally thought the ending was very satisfying and ended exactly how it needed too. However it is an ending that leaves interpretation to the reader so if you don’t like that don’t read this book.
Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Vomit, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Suicide
Minor: Self harm and Cannibalism
sophie_harcourrrrt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked the characters and the idea of the Tox, but i think it couldve been better executed? Idk
Spoiler
like the Tox was just a parasite? I dont know about anyone else but i was expecting something a bit more complex. And how come the people at camp Nash couldnt spot that??? Didnt they test on 9 girls?? How could the scientists and doctors could not see that but some teen girls could?? I wanted more explanation for that tbhThe romance was less than i was expecting but i couldn't complain cos its sapphic romance and i can always apprieciate that
Yeah i dont know what else to say i did enjoy it though, would recomend for someone looking for YA horror
Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Cursing and Death
itsdanibee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Child death, Medical content, Vomit, Grief, and Terminal illness
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Kidnapping, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Murder
fanboyriot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Honestly, most of what I didn’t like was the ending. We got no answers for anything really, and it left with absolutely no resolution. It just felt like it was dragged out and then it just ended. The switching POV I normally really like just didn’t work for me; they just seemed too close to one another and a few pages in I’d forget which character it even was.
(First Person POV)
Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Torture, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Ableism, Vomit, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Cursing, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, War, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Eating disorder
vigil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Abandonment, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, and Suicide
aparnaprab's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Child death, Confinement, and Murder
Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Self harm
there was so. much. blood.rose_thorn2020's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Animal death
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, and Child death
sinaprst's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
i picked this up because i liked the cover, so i knew basically nothing about the story whatsoever going into this
in short: the book is about a boarding school on an island were somesort of virus or diseases spread, that lead to several students and teachers dying while others grew second body parts or similar stuff. now the school and island have been on lock down for i believe 18 months, while the government tries to find a cure (alledgedly). we follow our main character Hetty and her friends Bryce (i think is her name) and Reese while they trie to survive and figure out what is going on the island.
first of all, i loved the writing style. the author used some interesting choices, especially with the second pov character later on, that might not be for everyone, but i absolutly adored them.
the beginning is very slow. the first like 60 pages felt like ages to me, because nothing really happens except for pages over pages of exposition and world building.
but after that i got hooked and couldn`t put it down
nonetheless i felt like the book lacked some depth in some parts. i couldn`t really connect to any of the characters and in end still felt like i knew nothing about them, eventhough the story is very character driven
the sapphic lovestory also felt very out of the blue
Spoiler
and literally lasted like under 24h in book time????Spoiler
the ending was also very open and left me with more questions then answers honestly. i also wished that Bryce was really dead, her suddenly being still alive felt weird to me, idk why tho.also, did Hetty and Reese really just leave the rest of the girls to die on the island, when they literally scolded the headmistress and this other girl for the exact same thing just like one page before that??? this behaviour really confused and is probably one of the reasons why the ending felt so weird to me.
all in all, i loved the cover, premise and writing style, but the characters felt shallow, the lovestory underdeveloped and the ending questionable, therefore well deserved 3/5 stars from me :)
edit: i have just found out that her name is Byatt and not Bryce
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing and Grief
Minor: Torture
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Violence
jenny_d's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Child death, Body horror, Vomit, Torture, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Chronic illness, Blood, Animal death, and Animal cruelty