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bellsdixon's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Car accident, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
bowlsofpasta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
If anyone tells you this book is the “darkest” and “most twisted” book of the year than it’s probably the only book they’ve read all year. I’ve read children’s books with more gore.
The author spends way too much time rambling about shit no one cares about and less on focusing on the murders that are honestly pretty mundane.
Also, I get that the point is that the main character is a bad person. She’s like those annoying “feminist” who hate the patriarchy but then shit on other women for wearing makeup. But damn, no character development? She doesn’t learn a thing?
And that ending? Had to be the worse ending I’ve ever read in my life. Even if the book was good the ending would still have ruined the whole thing. But I supposed mold onto an already rotting dish doesn’t make too much difference anyways.
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming and Grief
stindex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Grief, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
esv_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
crusoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I did enjoy the first half of the book; it was interesting to read about how the murders took place, but there was no clear message to the book. Clearly, it was a not a feminist statement, nor did it make a clear statement about Grace becoming more like her father than she'd wanted. Although, I did not mind the twist as much, it was badly foreshadowed and muddied the message of the book even further.
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage
abi_sarah'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
4.0
Bella Mackie’s writing was so witty and painfully honest. The familial annoyances that Grace felt throughout were so relatable - she just had an extreme response to them! 😅
I felt like the first deaths happened a little to early, so there was a then a bit of a lull for me where I lost interest a bit. It soon picked ip again though and held my interest until the very end. The last 35-30% really had me gripped - there were just so many new twists and turns that I just wanted to keep reading!
The only thing I would stay that stops it from being 5 stars, is that sometimes I found Grace’s reasoning behind her murders a little shallow? Maybe it was just me, but a bit of believability escaped there for me.
Excellent writing from Bella Mackie, highly entertaining! Great story-telling too! Loved the plot twists, so imaginative!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Car accident, and Gaslighting
theelliad's review against another edition
3.5
The narrative voice of this novel is hilarious and sarcastic and truly kept me engaged, alongside this the dual timeline of the story is handled well and it was structurally enjoyable and followable. That said, I was disappointed by the ending, the twist was not the best but I thought fitted the story well, it was rather the transformation in Grace (the protagonist) in the final chapters. The self sufficient, powerful and somewhat narcissistic personality she has established falls victim to the writers need for a conclusion becoming submissive, easily forgiving and a bit boring as the final events of her life are recounted; it was this, more so than the plot twist, which didn’t feel right to me. However, that said I did enjoy this book enough to speed through it in a matter of days and so I cannot judge it too harshly!
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism
emmajh91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
The concept is interesting, though pretty bare-bones. Revenge against a family who abandoned you. Except that even after learning they're not all the same, she doesn't give a single crap and kills them all regardless. The abandonment is also iffy at best, her father had an affair with her mother, father didn't want anything to do with them *apparently*. Did she try and contact her father? nope. Did she even verify if the story that he was actually her father was correct? nope.
The misogyny throughout - especially from the main character - is astonishing as well. Constantly belittling women, constantly shaming others' bodies for being "too perfect" or "not perfect enough" and it's just so tiring to read. It could have been a good satire about not judging someone by their looks or whatever, but no there's absolutely 0 commentary of that kind.
The incestuous stuff as well was really iffy to read. Grace's first thought for all the men is just "lets seduce them in one way or another" one of them literally including sex clubs with hard kinks. Yes, she takes who she believes is a close family member to a hard kink sex club. And yes, they do go into a private room. While not overly explicit it's still incredibly awkward and pretty gross.
Her treatment towards others all through the book is just horrific. She blackmails a literal child who *she* asked for help from and he was just going along with things. She has 0 issues manipulating and lying to whoever to get whatever she wants. And none of this is in a "ooh she's so smart and sneaky" way, all of it is in a "if someone actually did this in reality they'd get caught in like, 2 seconds because of how brain dead it all is".
The ending is also very stupid. It's very easy to guess how it ends, the "foreshadowing" isn't very subtle at all. Those "letters" at the end, was honestly just skipping through so much of it because I do not want to read a whole page of random "ooh football talk!" like come on. It had 0 impact or anything, it was just pure filler waffle nonsense for the *climax* and entire twist. Purely "tell don't show".
This isn't a book based in reality, it's very much it's own fantasy world. It's not clever, it's not satire. It's just a book about someone bragging how fantastic and clever they are while being incredibly stupid and aggravating all the way through. The only thing that make me remotely smile was the "bible story that wasn't from the bible" near the start.
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, and Sexual content
Unknown Incestuous Relationships (One party is aware it's incestuous, the other isn't)atomicbritt'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism