Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Collective

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It's just ok. Once I knew the plot, I thought 'ohhh this is going to be good.' It wasn't. I knew the twist before it came, which is ok, but I wanted to be wrong. Check the trigger warnings because this does have sensitive subjects in it.

How I rate my books:

⭐️ wasted my time
⭐️⭐️ not terrible but not great
⭐️⭐️⭐️ good, but wouldn't read again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ really liked it and recommend it!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ absolutely loved it! Move it up on your TBR

Content Warnings

danaslitlist's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

First I have to say the premise of this book is so intriguing and well executed by Alison Gaylin. I was a bit worried I'd find it either too out there or too safe but stays steadily grounded in just enough realism and "what if"s that it works. I also appreciate the lack of on page violence when it was something that the author could've easily written in and had it "work" in theory. I think this book benefits from the idea and threat of violence, from the knowing that it happens, but without making that the focus of the narrative.

Instead this is thriller that puts the focus on grief and the many ways it can present itself. Self destruction, the destruction of others, regret, anger, and so much more. And while this is still a suspenseful and tense book I found this to be a much more emotional journey than I had expected. I really appreciated the commentary on victims of violence at the hands of those who have the means to escape justice (whether that is because of their race, financial or social status, or just utter incompetency of the system).

The Collective spends a good portion of itself discussing how the world views these victims in life and in death and how that extends to the surviving members of the victims' families. One of the most powerful and gut punching moments occurs when justice (in theory) is finally attained for one of the main characters and we see how quick the world is ready to reinvent the narrative they spent so long pushing and benefiting from. And how fast everyone is to move on immediately after, how that doesn't sate the feelings of rage and pain that linger for those still wronged.

I really enjoyed our main character, Cam, she's a beautifully flawed (and who wouldn't be given the circumstances) character that I wanted to both shake some sense into while also root for her to keep going. The mysterious supporting cast that names themselves The Collective are equally fascinating and I really love that even in the end we know very little about who they all are and how this system works. Again, the premise is just genius and terrifying. I also appreciate the deviating from the young lover with Luke, I tip my hat to Alison Gaylin for that little twist.

The only reason that I'm removing a star from this book is because of the ending. This is a book that builds up and up, a dam about to break, but instead of a shattering of that dam we get someone poking the wall with a stick to create a leak that completely ruins the spectacle. Now, I'm not saying that we needed to have a guns blazing ending or anything but it was very anti-climatic and that I think it could've been fixed with some little changes. One of those being the pacing; the majority of the book has great pacing however the last 100 pages or so goes by very quickly with a lot of reveals and twists given to you all at once. This didn't quite work out for me the way I think it was intended especially given the reveals we were receiving. They were quite vital for Cam and her character and instead of having any time to ruminate on them we're forced to go, go, go. The other change I would make would be to make the stakes at the end a bit higher. I think the ending is where the author finally played it too safe for me because there was never a question of what decision she would make.

I think a lot of my minor issues have to do with the pacing of the last 100 pages. It’s so fast as if it’s trying to quickly tie things together on a time crunch. I wish we had some more time to focus on the relationships that motivate her decisions at the end.

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micaelamariem's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This was a disappointing read. I had heard good things about it and it had such an interesting premise--mothers getting revenge. But the one thing I couldn't push past--and forgive the kindergarten language here--was how stupid the main character was. I get that for part of it, she was probably just in denial, but denial can only go so far. I don't expect main characters to make all the right decisions but oh my goodness, it seemed like the author expected us to be as dumb as the mc! Aside from one plot twist, the book was predictable and it was lacking in depth. I was expecting there to be some lesson on how to cope with grief or how to avoid becoming a monster when facing other monsters. But there was no lesson, no moral. The theme seemed to be that everyone sucks and nothing gets better. Also, the ending was just wholly unsatisfying.
I will say however, in the beginning the themes of grief and loss were interesting and gave me hope to see that grow (too bad that hope was misplaced), the one plot twist had me lurching, and I liked the ties to Greek mythology

Content Warnings

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I love every part of this book. My only criticism is that I felt like the author could've done better when it came to transitioning from one scene to the next. Sometimes I couldn't tell where the main character was or we would just jump to a new setting and I'm just like "woah how did we get here?". And also the ending where

Camille was faulted for killing 0001/Wendy/Dianne's daughter was a little underwhelming for me. It sorta fell flat. And I'm sorry but I absolutely adored Camille and Luke friendship so the fact that she went out like that and he thinks she committed suicide makes me upset.

But I do have to admit it was a good plot twist in my opinion. It (the ending) just fell a little flat for me. Other than book I completely devoured this book.

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