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alexisdillon725's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, and Panic attacks/disorders
craftyanty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Rape, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, and Kidnapping
louiepotterbook's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
colorcrystals'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
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, Gun violence, and Excrement
Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy
heathers94's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
shesflippinpages'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, and Infertility
bibliomich's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I always get so nervous as I approach the end of a thriller, because I feel like everything hinges on the resolution. (Has the author laid enough groundwork for the reveal to pay off? Does it make sense? Is it realistic?) The resolution of this book was arguably my favorite part of the entire story. The foundations and backstory were there, and the reveal was believable (and honestly shocking without feeling like it came out of nowhere).
I think this book is best if you don't know anything at all going into it, so I'm not going to elaborate much on the story or characters here. I do have a couple additional thoughts, though. There were a few aspects of the book that I wish Emiko Jean could have dug into a bit more. Throughout the book, Detective Chelsea Calhoun, one of the protagonists, is deeply immersed in her job. And while Jean addresses some of the problems with the white male cop culture that is an inherent part of this job, I felt like she could have explored this/pushed it further.
Additionally, this same protagonist is also a Japanese woman who was adopted as a child by a white family. Emiko Jean is an Asian-identifying author who often writes Japanese characters, and I was quite excited to see how this would play out in the story. While she references it a couple of times (mostly in the context of feeling like a bit of an outsider, particularly at her job), I also would have loved to see Chelsea's identity play a larger role in the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my advanced copy!
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Murder
thrillofthepage'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
4.25
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
hannahleebibliophile'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
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Excrement, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I read this in one sitting because I wanted to know what happened. I genuinely adored Tokyo Ever After & Mika In Real Life. Soooo, I was beyond thrilled that EJ was writing an adult thriller/mystery!
Ellie Black returns two years after she went missing and is apprehensive to working with the police to bring her kidnapper (and alleged murderer, because other girls have gone missing and their bodies had been found later). She is skittish, disoriented, and understandably uninterested in discussing what happened to her. The detective on the case wants to bring Ellie’s kidnapper to justice, with extra pressure from her boss, Sergeant Abbott. Chelsey’s sister Lydia also went missing and was murdered when Chelsey was in high school, so she has an added layer of wanting to succeed in finding the man who did this to Ellie.
So ultimately, the mystery and little reveals were quite clever, and J genuinely was deeply intrigued by Ellie’s first-person narrative chapters as she recounted her time in being kidnapped. I thought that the set up and unraveling of this mystery were actually executed quite well! I really appreciated and lamented with the overarching message of the story, with regards to how society normalizes violence and abuse against women. Misogyny is a widespread issue, and incels are a danger to us all. I totally agree!
However, I wish the main character of this story (Chelsey — transracial Japanese adoptee of a white family) was not a cop, and not proud to be a cop. I have just kind of had it with cop stories, especially when they’re painted as the heroes. Chelsey even mentions her “cop origin story” when tying it back to making her late cop dad proud. I just don’t vibe with it. She could have been a private investigator, the former best friend of Ellie Black, a former teacher of Ellie Black, a journalist, whatever! Anyway, her occupation really bothered me.
Overall, I enjoyed the story but it frustrated me that Chelsey was so thrilled to be a cop🥴
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content