fiona_245'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? Yes
4.25
While Nick's such a jerk for cheating on his wife - on his student! how disgusting! - Amy's revenge is more fucked up. To think that she was pretending to be this cool girl for Nick all along for many years, and eventually got bored of the pretense and resented Nick for not taking a hint and wanting to get back on Nick for that matter.. that's just sooo manipulative and cunning, borderline psychopath (ironic na Psych grad iyang fam). Her finding out his husband cheating only fueled to her hatred and she devised a revenge to frame her husband for a nonexistent homicide.
Her revenge on her HS friend is brutal as heck, poor Hilary is victimized even though it's not her fault Amy decided to cut her off by blaming Hilary that she fell off the stairs (caused by Amy herself, to play victim). She even used her ex (forgot the name) in her desperation after her revenge escapade got ruined, eventually she killed him. A murderer.
Amy's a sociopath. Her seemingly perfect image is maintained using her devious, pavictim card. Her revenge is just petty, esp to Hilary, playing god and it's not even justified.
Overall, this book is really nice. It delved into a female character with questionable and borderline psyxhopathic/sociopathic behavior perfectly that I don't want to take anyone's sides.
Graphic: Violence, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Hate crime, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Murder
vaguely_pink'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity
Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, Dementia, Cursing, Alcohol, and Death
Minor: Fatphobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Classism, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Gun violence, Medical content, Body shaming, and Cancer
marlisenicole'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
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Vomit, Dementia, Infertility, Blood, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Murder, Gaslighting, Suicide, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Rape
hannahmg'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? Yes
2.0
1/2 writing/structure/character creation
1/2 enjoyment
I would not recommend this book.
Overall I did not enjoy this book, the first 250 page were not needed and were poorly written, the last 50 pages were as bad as the first part of the book. I only enjoyed a small snippet of the book. The length of this triller is way to long and unnecessary. I felt like I was reading a first draft of a idea.
The writing was partly smart with good ideas but poorly done, the journal extracts giving us a unreliable pov which was smart, reminded me of Dracula, but this was done in a manner which made it worthless, more dialogue than actually description, this was so unrealistic it was unnecessary to make it seem like a dairy. Nicks pov was closer to a dairy than Amy's own dairy entries. The repetition was unbearable, -yes Nick we get it you have a mistress and she is young, very young, and pretty.
The character creation was immense and well though through, Amy and Nick are both so realistic but fucked up at the same time. This is one of the major reasons it is a two and not a one star review.
I thought there was a lot of unnecessary added details, the level of Misogyny and sexism was not needed and weakly touched on at the end. Specifically the character of Nick's father who has Dementia and becomes extremely misogynistic, with the use of the slur "bitch" in both his speech and Nicks thoughts. Why add this, I just think the book would of been fine without it and it didn't feel like a representation of any sorts but more a tick for the check list and even excusing the behaviour.
I was very disappointed in the trigger warning list i found (Storygraph). Yes it is a thriller, we should expect triggering things but at the end of the day the book should have a page of trigger warnings.
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Cursing, Cancer, Vomit, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Terminal illness, Infertility, Grief, Rape, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Torture, Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Lesbophobia
agirlthatreadsbooksforfun's review against another edition
4.25
“We weren’t ourselves when we fell in love, and when we became ourselves – surprise! – we were poison. We complete each other in the nastiest, ugliest possible way.”
I love mind games, and psychological thrillers seem to have them. I didn't like the first half as much as I thought I would, but when the second half hit, it hit hard. Even though I guessed the big twist, it's what that twist did for the story that made it so captivating. I didn't like the writing style at certain points of this book, it felt a bit too graphic with the cursing and gore (for my taste, that is). It made me uncomfortable, which I guess, is the point. However, overall, this book is chaotically unhinged, disturbingly dark and deceptively brilliant.
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts
katerinamckenna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Death
Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cursing and Classism
janewa'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Cancer, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Self harm, Violence, and Rape
Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Kidnapping, Medical content, Terminal illness, Sexism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Stalking
Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
sierrabedwell'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
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Vomit
madelinequinne's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Stalking, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault
clare072's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Pregnancy, Blood, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Rape
Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Grief, Miscarriage, Violence, Misogyny, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, and Dementia