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sol_journal's reviews
75 reviews
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Grief, and Murder
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
Posted on: 25 October 2024
3.5 (rounded up to 4) out of 5 stars.
Full review to come. I literally just finished the last page though and must drop my initial thoughts.
This book was a horror in such a good way. I cringed and I tried to cover up the words while reading the gory bits. I *felt* Ji-won’s rage and kind of hate we were taken along the roller coaster of deaths and devours only because I realized I’m more squeamish than I thought. Still, I absolutely will be here whenever Monika Kim releases another book! There was something just wickedly gruesome and terrible about this that didn’t allow me to put it down. I loved the narrative we got to follow, loved the descent and the twists and the ending. Loved loved *loved* this little terror of a novel.
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Medical content
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Blood
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, and Alcohol
3.0
Minor: Death and Blood
3.0
Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The Storygraph
Posted on: 8 June 2024
3 out of 5 stars.
I tried to like this. I really did. I got to 20% then 25%, then told myself I’ll go to 35% to see how it’ll go and I still just had that love-hate relationship. When I start to feel this way with books, I’m wary to keep continuing because I start to get too critical over the smallest things and it further ruins the read.
So ultimately, I did decide to just DNF. I just don’t think this book is for me. It’s slightly out my range from the usual genres I pick. It’s also just a little slow and the characters a tad unlikeable in a bad way (because I love me a good unlikable or unreliable mc, don’t get me wrong)
I had this issue that a few others had in feeling that Gia’s manuscript POV was just… long. And it took too long to get to the point. I get that we’re peering into the buildup of what happened, but I don’t know… it just didn’t interest me yet there are a *lot* of chapters featuring Gia’s POV compared to Abby’s and that’s considering the fact that I didn’t even finish the book. I feel like I just wanted to see more of Abby, or more movement *anywhere*.
The premise was interesting, the whole idea, the cover, and the title- it was *interesting*, but the actual inside of the book just left me wanting. Maybe I’ll try again to finish this, but genuinely I don’t think it lined up with what I was expecting based off the summary and the cover? I think others will definitely enjoy this more than I have, but just for me personally, it really didn’t strike the right cord from the get-go.
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Minor: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, and Alcohol
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
The writing was pretty enjoyable. There were some bits where the details kind of went over my head, but I tend to read in inconvenient places and times (usually during my downtime at work or late at night before bed) so that could very well be the reason.
- The action that happens in the story hits as it’s happening- if that makes sense. The setting is already building up on eeriness and dread, that feeling like you know something is gonna happen but you don’t know *when*. But you also don’t really expect what will happen until you’re suddenly thrown into the scene.
- This book consumed me. It became a fan-favorite *fast* for the fact that I love this genre of horror. I’m a big fan of the Kids on Bikes TTRPG game ‘Kollok 1991’ and this gave very similar vibes! And if I haven’t stated it enough, I loved SARs stories growing up. This was everything I forgot I loved wrapped into one with a door leading straight into the thick of it (get it? Doors are kinda problematic around here- I’ll see myself out now…)
- I feel like this was horror in that it was creepy, but not too scary? It has some gore though, wonderfully done action scenes IMO that I could almost see when I sat down and focused on reading. I really would say that this is great for people who don’t like to get scared but kind of want a nice little chiller.
- Sometimes the characters grated me by how they acted? Theo has some development, but she says stuff that kinda contradicts? An example- she mentions that a conspiracy theorist isn’t really a bad thing because it means somebody out there is ‘crazier than her’ and also means she’s ’not alone in her belief’. But another scene further in, she uses ‘conspiracist/conspiracy theorist’ as an insult/thinks of them insultingly. It’s little things like this, but I feel like it’s just showing how Theo grows along the way too. Her thoughts do kinda change later/she eventually learns to work with different people. I think it’s the fact that Theo is tough to love at first (but man does she fight her way into your heart by the end)
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Emotional abuse