Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Come Closer by Sara Gran

3 reviews

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I started reading this, paused for whatever reason, and accidentally forgot about it. Oops 😬

The choices… incomprehensible.
Amanda easily accepts that she’s being possessed and doesn’t really try to get rid of Naamah until it’s beyond too late. She didn’t think any of the warning signs (that she was VERY aware of) were weird and is  just passively aware that her body is now being used for theft, adulterous sex, murder. Just shrugs that shit off. The scariest aspect of this is slowly losing yourself and all control of your life. Which is terrifying!!! But for a demonic possession story, you just expect more. That being said, her last thoughts before unknowingly killing Ed— so sad.
There really was no other way this little book could have ended though. But Amanda’s reason thrown in on the very last page felt so last minute, it didn’t match the entirety of the story for me.
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caspian's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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mixeterna's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.0

A quick and interesting read with a writing style I found immersive. The plot was intriguing and, while predictable at points, still had me holding out hope for the characters. I love the concept of a gradual possession that could be attributed to just a change in personality, by both others and yourself. I didn't find it particularly scary, however, and I would describe it more as an unsettling suspense than a horror. Overall enjoyable for the length.

Sadly, the ending felt cliché to me and was a bit disappointing. 
Amanda's relationship with Ed, while they had their happy moments, read to me as consistently strained since before her possession, so the overwhelmingly romantic notions towards him came across very forced. Maybe that's the point - that she doesn't care about her grievances with him anymore since her life was completely destroyed by Naamah. But to me it felt a bit cheesy, and the last line just confused me. It's a shame because I really enjoyed the chapter directly before it, where Naamah had almost completely taken over and we only got glimpses of her life between blackouts. It could have been more powerful and unsettling if it stuck with that.


There was a semi-frequent use of homophobic slurs throughout, including in the very first scene, and some racist rhetoric which was never really addressed. The main character isn't painted as a likeable person, but it still made me pause and wonder whether this was a reflection of her character or just the author. There was also a conflation between demonic possession and mental illness at points,
especially since she ends up institutionalised at the end
, which strays into dangerous ideas around things like psychosis and DID. This brought my enjoyment for it down a lot.
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