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lrcartee's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
2.0
Georgia Avis wants more from life. She feels she deserves more and is determined to have more no matter the stakes. To Georgia, the epitome of making it is to become an “Aspera girl”. Aspera is an elite resort for the rich and famous surrounding by mystery and secrets. When Georgia is offered a job there, the secrets begin to unravel.
I love Courtney Summers books. I love how she tackles difficult subjects and brings them to light. I wanted to love this book. I did not. There were so many plot points that it was very hard to decide how to write a synopsis. Was it about Georgia’s obsession with the resort and the people who run it? Was it the fact Georgia found the dead body of a 13 year old girl and trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her? Was it about trying to spotlight a young girl’s naïveté and thereby unable to see the dangers that lurked around her? I don’t know! It was all those things and didn’t do any of them particularly well. It was too disjointed and because of that nothing really resolved. As for character development, there was none. Georgia wandered in and out of so many traumatic experiences seemingly learning nothing from any of them. She became very trying.
The blurb for this book says it’s about Georgia and her friend trying to find out what happened to her friend’s sister. To me this was secondary. In my opinion, it was more about Georgia fulfilling her dreams no matter the cost and sometimes stumbling upon something about the murder case, usually by being in situations from very poor decision making.
Another reviewer wrote that the entire book was a giant trigger warning and I agree. They were all represented, rape, child molestation, grooming, human trafficking, murder, suicide, drug use, classism and more. For me, the book needed more cohesion. As I said I have loved Summers other books but this one, for me, was just too all over the place.
I love Courtney Summers books. I love how she tackles difficult subjects and brings them to light. I wanted to love this book. I did not. There were so many plot points that it was very hard to decide how to write a synopsis. Was it about Georgia’s obsession with the resort and the people who run it? Was it the fact Georgia found the dead body of a 13 year old girl and trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her? Was it about trying to spotlight a young girl’s naïveté and thereby unable to see the dangers that lurked around her? I don’t know! It was all those things and didn’t do any of them particularly well. It was too disjointed and because of that nothing really resolved. As for character development, there was none. Georgia wandered in and out of so many traumatic experiences seemingly learning nothing from any of them. She became very trying.
The blurb for this book says it’s about Georgia and her friend trying to find out what happened to her friend’s sister. To me this was secondary. In my opinion, it was more about Georgia fulfilling her dreams no matter the cost and sometimes stumbling upon something about the murder case, usually by being in situations from very poor decision making.
Another reviewer wrote that the entire book was a giant trigger warning and I agree. They were all represented, rape, child molestation, grooming, human trafficking, murder, suicide, drug use, classism and more. For me, the book needed more cohesion. As I said I have loved Summers other books but this one, for me, was just too all over the place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Car accident, Classism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
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