lilybearillini3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Murder, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Rape
escapinginpaper's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Body horror, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Abortion, Child abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcohol
nyoom's review against another edition
- 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
0.25
Graphic: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Trafficking, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Racial slurs, and Terminal illness
Minor: Sexual content
fcg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Infidelity
Minor: Blood
robinsong's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexism
Minor: Body horror, Car accident, Cursing, and Death of parent
cammiem8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Medical content, Misogyny, Gore, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Suicide, and Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion and Abandonment
There is a scene where a pregnant character is experiencing heavy bleeding and worries that she might miscarry, but she and the baby are fine. Also general existential horror of dehumanization.emptychurches's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Alcohol, Body horror, Misogyny, and Vomit
marlinspirkhall's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I wrote down a few thoughts as I began reading the book, but found it so engrossing that I didn't take detailed notes. It was fantastic, and I can't wait to reread it at some point. For now, it will be on-loan to a friend until they finish it.
You always hear writing advice which suggests you should hook the reader with the first paragraph, which Gailey does effortlessly.
"My gown was beautiful. It was the kind of garment that looks precisely as expensive as it is. I did not hate it, because it was beautiful, and I did not love it, because it was cruel. I wore it because wearing it was the thing the night demanded of me."
Gailey has a wonderful way of using words, which makes me rethink the often-underutilised potential of the English language. It's always just succinct enough that it never crosses into the territory of purple prose.
"Her voice was high, light, warm. Nonthreatening. Hearing it was like swallowing a cheekful of venom."
"But somehow Nathan- Nathan, the coward, the failure, who had abandoned industry for academia nearly a decade before, who shouldn't have been able to approach the level of work I was doing- somehow, Nathan had found a way to undermine that principle. To undermine *my* principles."
Page 55:
Spoiler
Page 55: "when I got to the kitchen, Nathan was still dead"
Me, out loud: wait, what?!
Fucking good plot twist, fucking well done.
"People always brought up the idea of feedingto pigs, as if there were pig farms around every goddamn corner."Spoiler
bodies
Thank you, Gailey. There's an entire tumblr thread out there, to which I will be using this quote as a "gotcha".
The way that Gailey imbues several tropes into their work is skillfully done, too. Many reviews said they transformed the "cheating spouse" trope with a sci-fi twist, but, really, this book was about generational abuse. How it echoes down through your family and sets its roots in you, and makes you wonder fi you're going to internalise and repeat the pattern too... Which is why it's so cathartic when the book ends with:
Spoiler
"I'm not a monster.Graphic: Emotional abuse and Body horror
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Murder, Suicide, Misogyny, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Alcohol, and Blood
Minor: Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Abandonment
Body Horror:Spoiler
One of the "failed clones" which is buried in the back yard has a "spiral mandible" which is described in detail. Murder:Spoiler
Nathan attacks Martine and she kills him in self-defense. It is later revealed he was trying to murder her, in addition to his plans to murder Evelyn. Oh, and he also has the bodies of 12 "failed" clones in the back yard. 11 of these are "growth rate" failures, and appear to have died on their own, but one body- the final one- was "perfect". The only thing he appears to have objected to was her personality.Spoiler
and so it was not a surprise to me when he asked if I would help him raise Violet."Spoiler
In order to allow Martine to live a life free from Nathan 2, Evelyn and Martine dig up the body of a clone, and pose her in the wardrobe as if she has hanged herself. It could be an upsetting scene to some readers.Spoiler
a description of them leaving baby Violet behind, which made me burst into tears. However, thankfully, she is reunited with her mother later.Spoiler
he broke Evelyn's wrist when she was nine years old. He also feels no remorse for this, and rolls his eyes when he sees that her arm is in a cast.Spoiler
Evelyn's father switches between being outright neglectful of her and smothering her with his expectations and rules. He also grabs her face roughly when she is only six years old. Her mother trains her how to sneak around the house without making the stairs creak so that she doesn't wake her father. She is regularly seen running away from her father in flashbacks. She resents her mother, in part, and fears becoming her father while still respecting him.laguerrelewis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This story is more thought provoking than probably anything else I’ve ever encountered. It shies away from nothing, and tackles it’s characters and ideas expertly. If you can handle it, I cannot recommend this book enough. Sarah Gailey is one to watch.
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy