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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Why.
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
traciereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Slavery, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
rhgrimes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
dizpig's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Dementia
Minor: Stalking
kiwichill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Pandemic/Epidemic
daringreader13'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
saraellenme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Suicide, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
jasminealizae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I put my physical TBR in a randomizer and let it choose for me, and it chose spooky apparently - and in terms of spookiness, this book delivers on all fronts. I loved the gothic apartment building setting. To me, it felt extremely vivid and claustrophobic. The gargoyles, the colors, the faces in the wallpaper, I felt like I could see it all. I loved that every single person in the book was suspicious as hell. There wasn't just one person I was side eye-ing - I was side eye-ing them all, even the MC's parents who were dead when the book began. I would compare this to American Horror Story: Hotel, but less unhinged because the writing is better. As a whole, the story was compelling and kept me guessing what direction it was going in.
There are parts, however, that had me scratching my head or made me uncomfortable - and not in the way that you hope to be uncomfortable when reading a thriller. There was some casual homophobia within the inner monologue of the main character that really took me aback, it didn't serve the story at all and it was the kind of casual homophobia that queer people like myself pick up on very easily. Additionally, there is some queer "rep" in the history of the Bartholomew, but it is all negative rep that does not serve the story. Speaking of the MC, Jules, she was incredibly annoying, and not to be mean, but she was dumb as rocks. I didn't care about her breakup, I barely cared about her life, I wanted to know more about the Bartholomew building and its history. This next critique is petty, but I'm wondering if Sager really needed to use the word "meager" as many times as he did while writing this book. It got to a point where I had to roll my eyes every time I saw it. Please open a thesaurus, for the love of God.
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
breezer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Drug use, Self harm, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury