kalzeb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Blood, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content and Cursing
ginaajoee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Drug abuse
meesecheese's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Murder
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Hated the ending with a passion.
I'm also a little conflicted about how the rape topic/aftermath is handled. These are teens, of course they don't know how to handle the situation in a healthy way and make lots of mistakes. And I understand why they want to try to resolve the issue on their own, although they are torn between what they want and the trauma. But please, at least consider the possibility of professional help at some point?!
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, and Rape
petrarose's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
i’m looking forward to reading the next two and hopefully finding out what actually happened in this one.
Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Minor: Rape
meghanm404'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
3.0
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence
ashlightgrayson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Despite shortcomings in the plot, I appreciated the character development for both Charlotte and Jamie. Charlotte has to grapple with her past trauma and how that affects her ability to enter into a romantic relationship with Jamie. Jamie has to deal with his feelings of inadequacy and jealousy around Holmes that are due to him often selling himself short. He is respectful of her boundaries and abstains from being affectionate with her more than he would want to; however, t is clear that his romantic feelings for Charlotte are strong. I think some people may argue that he idolizes her, but I beg to differ. Jamie and Charlotte argue a lot and he sees her flaws and likes her anyway. I really like their relationship dynamic overall. Other characters observing them see them argue a lot and even comment on it, but in a way it is how they communicate. Their arguments can be very angsty when they are serious, but we get both of their perspectives and it is clear that their inner insecurities are what are causing the miscommunication. I know this will probably annoy some readers, but I would kindly remind them that this is often the cause of conflicts in real life relationships. In addition, they are teenagers who are both still trying to figure things out, so that also helped make me a lot more empathetic towards them. Charlotte in particular is bad at expressing her emotions and it is greatly out of fear of ruining what she has with Jamie. I feel that this made her more human this time around and helped me understand her as a character better.
Spoiler
I should mention that despite Charlotte's character growth, the amount of lying she was willing to do to cover up for her family shows that she definitely still has a lot of growth to do. I'm hoping that we get more insight into what has made her so severely loyal to her family in this unhealthy way. It sees like she did not have the most loving childhood and does not truly understand what true love looks like (platonic or not). I am looking forward to that being explored more in the next book.I'm looking forward to see the continued progression of the relationship between Charlotte and Jamie. Not this author's best work, but I'm hoping it gets better as the series goes on.
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Vomit