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cartbark's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Child abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Death
zoraleigh's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Addiction, Mental illness, Child abuse, Death, and Physical abuse
heather3879's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
This incredibly dark novel is classified as a “thriller” but I found it more horrifying and reflective than thrilling, in a good way. If that makes sense. Christie is a disturbed and neglected child desperate for love and attention who commits a horrific crime. Told in alternating timelines between Christie as a child and as an adult revisiting her home, the story demonstrates the power of a child’s environment on the psyche and the potential for change given the chance for a meaningful connection. It was heavy and horrific in its realism, but well worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Child death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism
david_slack110507's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
This was definitely a heavy hitter of a book particularly with its themes and its take on the topic of nature vs nurture with the book taking a stance on the latter. The start of the book really took me along time to get through which was probably not helped by other factors such as reading other books at the time as well as having exams going on in school that limited my reading time particularly of this book however when I got to the latter half of this book it truly made up for the slow and somewhat boring start of the book, at that point I was fully engrossed in what was going on in a way that I hadn't been when I was reading the first half or so.
The premise of this book is really unique/original in not only having the book be from the killer's perspective but also having said killer be a child is very fascinating aa it opens for many discussions on the topic of nature vs nurture and in this case whether 8-year old Chrissie's murder of fellow child Steven was something that she was simply born to do or whether it was her surrounding environment such as a lack of attention, care (Both emotional and physical), and food at home that shaped her into a child capable of such a crime. It was really fascinating to read through especially as you see it through Chrissie's perspective as one part of the two perspectives, we follow throughout this book with the other being Julia, Chrissie grown up with a new identity and a daughter of her own named Molly who she fights to ensure does not end up like her.
Chrissie's perspective is purposely childlike and shows the harsh realities of life and how they are received by a child such as thinking that death is not permanent and not fully understanding the consequences of her actions and how they affected other until much later in her life. It's interesting to read through as while we get reasoning as to what drives Chrissie to do these things such as an emotionally abusive and toxic household, Chrissie is never absolved of her crimes and is fairly judged for the horrible things she did. Meanwhile, Julia is left picking up the pieces of her past actions as a new woman with a daughter who she fears will turn out just like her, I will admit that at the start of Julia's storyline, it was pretty boring to me as it was very exposition heavy as to how she got to this place in her life but after the exposition is placed on the backburner, the story becomes a lot more intriguing and we get to see Chrissie's growth as Julia such as when she recognises how good of a friend Linda was to her despite how horrible she was to Linda as a means of getting power in a life where it was scarcely at her disposal.
My only issues with the book is that the start is quite slow and does feel like it's being done simply to set up the second half and the main events of the book, but it does pay off eventually just acts as a potential discouragement to continue on if the reader finds it too boring. Also, on the blurb it states that there is a storyline featuring Julia being afraid to answer phone calls that come from someone who knows her past and going in I assumed that this would be a driving factor of conflict, yet this ends quite anticlimactically and so too does other parts of the book which could affect some reading experiences but i think the handling of the books themes more than make up for it.
The premise of this book is really unique/original in not only having the book be from the killer's perspective but also having said killer be a child is very fascinating aa it opens for many discussions on the topic of nature vs nurture and in this case whether 8-year old Chrissie's murder of fellow child Steven was something that she was simply born to do or whether it was her surrounding environment such as a lack of attention, care (Both emotional and physical), and food at home that shaped her into a child capable of such a crime. It was really fascinating to read through especially as you see it through Chrissie's perspective as one part of the two perspectives, we follow throughout this book with the other being Julia, Chrissie grown up with a new identity and a daughter of her own named Molly who she fights to ensure does not end up like her.
Chrissie's perspective is purposely childlike and shows the harsh realities of life and how they are received by a child such as thinking that death is not permanent and not fully understanding the consequences of her actions and how they affected other until much later in her life. It's interesting to read through as while we get reasoning as to what drives Chrissie to do these things such as an emotionally abusive and toxic household, Chrissie is never absolved of her crimes and is fairly judged for the horrible things she did. Meanwhile, Julia is left picking up the pieces of her past actions as a new woman with a daughter who she fears will turn out just like her, I will admit that at the start of Julia's storyline, it was pretty boring to me as it was very exposition heavy as to how she got to this place in her life but after the exposition is placed on the backburner, the story becomes a lot more intriguing and we get to see Chrissie's growth as Julia such as when she recognises how good of a friend Linda was to her despite how horrible she was to Linda as a means of getting power in a life where it was scarcely at her disposal.
My only issues with the book is that the start is quite slow and does feel like it's being done simply to set up the second half and the main events of the book, but it does pay off eventually just acts as a potential discouragement to continue on if the reader finds it too boring. Also, on the blurb it states that there is a storyline featuring Julia being afraid to answer phone calls that come from someone who knows her past and going in I assumed that this would be a driving factor of conflict, yet this ends quite anticlimactically and so too does other parts of the book which could affect some reading experiences but i think the handling of the books themes more than make up for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Cursing, Vomit, Body shaming, Bullying, Abandonment, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, and Sexual content
megan_bbender's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Before anything else, I cannot believe that this book was Nancy Tucker's first fiction novel. The writing was flawless, it always flowed so well. I was always so intrigued and wondered what could happen next. There was never a dull moment and I was always on the edge of my seat. This book was always on my mind while I was reading it, I never wanted to put it down.
Chrissie is absolutely terrifying inside and out. She's nightmare-fuelling, even as an adult. I always felt tense when Chrissie was doing something, like an accident just waiting to happen all of the time. It's hard to see a young child as scary or as a villain, Nancy Tucker created an amazing portrayal of young evil.
This book loves to toys with your emotions and morals, I found myself warming up to Chrissie towards the end which disturbed me just as much as the book.
I one hundred percent recommend this book to anyone who is considering reading it and I will definitely be keeping up with Nancy Tucker and her other books.
Chrissie is absolutely terrifying inside and out. She's nightmare-fuelling, even as an adult. I always felt tense when Chrissie was doing something, like an accident just waiting to happen all of the time. It's hard to see a young child as scary or as a villain, Nancy Tucker created an amazing portrayal of young evil.
This book loves to toys with your emotions and morals, I found myself warming up to Chrissie towards the end which disturbed me just as much as the book.
I one hundred percent recommend this book to anyone who is considering reading it and I will definitely be keeping up with Nancy Tucker and her other books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death and Infertility
eve0094's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Mental illness
emsprobablyreading's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, and Child death
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