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marthadude's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I half read this, half listened to the audiobook, and I think both formats are great. I think the general consensus is that the first 2/3's of the book are excellent, which they are. The protagonist and premise are both interesting, and the pacing is great for such a short book. Not to mention the elements of foreshadowing are masterful. However, the last half/ ending really brings down the rest of the book. The first twist was shocking and well done, but, once there were a few contradictory twists proceeding the first, things got too convoluted. While I like the idea of a con artist taking on a protege but it wasn't well executed here.The ending was too abrupt, confusing, and was ambiguous but not in a fun way. The conclusion wasn't satisfying to me and felt like sort of a cop out. I wish she had just stuck to one of the twists. I would say that the shortness of the book and the first two thirds really save it, but the ending made it drop from a 5 star to a 4 star.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Vomit, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
Minor: Death and Murder
malaikawrites's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Spoilers? Kinda? This book is real short so I’ll probably reveal more than I intend to.
Hmm. I really loved this book up until the third act conflict, which is where the whole story sorta just… lost all it’s initial eeriness. The main character was great with her smart, and manipulative, ways of working her way through life. She had an interesting backstory that immediately pulled me in and made me want to read more. I loved watching her navigate through being on the other end of the stick and dealing with being manipulated instead. The picture of intelligence that had been painted around her definitely came into question, but I didn’t find myself too mad about it once we got to see her process that and immediately launch herself into a new strategy.
I loved the kid and his highly intelligent ways of working towards getting what he wants. He crafted and maintained multiple narratives at once, which was very impressive from the readers perspective. Stories with open endings that allow you to believe whichever version you want, or believe nothing at all, have always been interesting to me. This story had multiple versions you could believe that were all kinda twisted and definitely in the moral grey area, but were also equally interesting to consider and explore.
The third act conflict is where things fell apart a bit for me. There was a very noticeable over-explanation that took away from both the shock factor and the atmospheric elements of the story. There’s nothing worse than a character telling the whole story to the protagonist. Having the twists and turns of a story told to you instead of the story being told through hints and actions is always a bit anticlimactic. My interest levels dropped a significant amount after that.
It was a great story, and it had a great ending, but it wasn’t told in the best way. There was some things that could’ve been explained less and some things that should’ve had a lot more explanation. The fathers identity reveal was necessary, but a lot more questions about his whereabouts should’ve been left a mystery. Not everything needed one or more explanations, some things could’ve been left with no explanation at all.
All in all I don’t think this was the most memorable read, but it was an entertaining story. It’s short, it’s very interesting and it ended on a great note.
Hmm. I really loved this book up until the third act conflict, which is where the whole story sorta just… lost all it’s initial eeriness. The main character was great with her smart, and manipulative, ways of working her way through life. She had an interesting backstory that immediately pulled me in and made me want to read more. I loved watching her navigate through being on the other end of the stick and dealing with being manipulated instead. The picture of intelligence that had been painted around her definitely came into question, but I didn’t find myself too mad about it once we got to see her process that and immediately launch herself into a new strategy.
I loved the kid and his highly intelligent ways of working towards getting what he wants. He crafted and maintained multiple narratives at once, which was very impressive from the readers perspective. Stories with open endings that allow you to believe whichever version you want, or believe nothing at all, have always been interesting to me. This story had multiple versions you could believe that were all kinda twisted and definitely in the moral grey area, but were also equally interesting to consider and explore.
The third act conflict is where things fell apart a bit for me. There was a very noticeable over-explanation that took away from both the shock factor and the atmospheric elements of the story. There’s nothing worse than a character telling the whole story to the protagonist. Having the twists and turns of a story told to you instead of the story being told through hints and actions is always a bit anticlimactic. My interest levels dropped a significant amount after that.
It was a great story, and it had a great ending, but it wasn’t told in the best way. There was some things that could’ve been explained less and some things that should’ve had a lot more explanation. The fathers identity reveal was necessary, but a lot more questions about his whereabouts should’ve been left a mystery. Not everything needed one or more explanations, some things could’ve been left with no explanation at all.
All in all I don’t think this was the most memorable read, but it was an entertaining story. It’s short, it’s very interesting and it ended on a great note.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Vomit
Moderate: Infidelity and Suicide
Minor: Violence and Murder
ana_bela_v's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty and Blood
atalea's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Infidelity
shiv123's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
lucys_library's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Sexual content, and Violence
anger566's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit and Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal cruelty
dalmavatai's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.5
This one was a great short thriller. In classic Gillian Flynn fashion, there was some witty social commentary which was all the more enjoyable because we get it from the perspective of this cynical woman who works as a psychic/soft-core sex worker. We explored the class and gender dimensions of her life, especially her experience as a woman giving men handjobs, and it was super interesting to hear her commentary on the kinds of men that routinely pay for handjobs.
The mystery involving Susan Burke was very engaging and gripping, I liked the haunted house and creepy-stepson elements a lot. I really enjoyed the first big reveal, I kind of wish we had left it at that instead of making it an ambiguous ending, which is something that I usually don't enjoy, but that's just a personal preference. I haven't actually read anything from Gillian Flynn even though I've seen Gone Girl and Sharp Objects, but now I'm tempted to pick up Gone Girl because I've heard the book is really good even if you already know the twist. Highly recommend this one!
The mystery involving Susan Burke was very engaging and gripping, I liked the haunted house and creepy-stepson elements a lot. I really enjoyed the first big reveal, I kind of wish we had left it at that instead of making it an ambiguous ending, which is something that I usually don't enjoy, but that's just a personal preference. I haven't actually read anything from Gillian Flynn even though I've seen Gone Girl and Sharp Objects, but now I'm tempted to pick up Gone Girl because I've heard the book is really good even if you already know the twist. Highly recommend this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Excrement, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, and Violence
voxelbee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Violence, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Murder, Confinement, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Cursing
fbzcab's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit