eelizard's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Stalking
chiara_dose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Child death, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal death, Infidelity, and Sexual content
summerbanks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Child death
kly227's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
I found myself emotional many times during this book. It put me in a dark headspace going to bed each night, which was hard. I felt connected to the characters because the family set up is exactly like mine as a child- and I would have been Susie. I found myself empathizing so much for Susie and her family in the first half; I found this book to be a very real and very difficult demonstration of grief.
On the negative side… the characters were extremely flat and hardly had any purpose for the story. The development of the plot was strange- as I kept hoping it would go a certain way or that there was a reason I was learning something specific about a character, and it never came back. This was frustrating and made a lot of the random paragraphs of detail throughout the book literally pointless.
Spoiler
The end of this book was really rocky. There was a paranormal, tricky sex scene that was basically sexual assault (but is glorified to be this amazing, transcendent experience between a 14 y/o and a 20 y/o) that made me extremely uncomfortable. It did not align with the rest of the story and it ruined some characters for me. Loose ends with characters were never tied up or dealt with in any shape or form. Characters were never held accountable for their mistakes and nothing was ever reprimanded.
Finally, maybe this is a personal thing, but I was not happy that the lovely bones were never found. That was my desire the entire time, and maybe it’s more realistic that we lose the body of the person forever but darn it! There are still so many questions.
Going to watch the very low-rated movie now, wish me luck!
Spoiler
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Blood, Grief, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Violence
kellymckn'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Pedophilia, and Rape
sadiaa's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Stalking, Sexual assault, Death, Murder, Animal death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Sexual violence
jadeybcb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
tigerkind's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Stalking, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Eating disorder, and Drug use
strange_and_unusual's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, and Sexual assault
Susie’s rape is detailed, in the beginning of the bookkarm555a's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Murder