Scan barcode
ekcd_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
1. Fucking hate first person narratives that try to write purple prose. People do not have thoughts the way Taylor thinks her narrator does. Max also seems very smug and pleased with herself and her humor, its kinda icky. Especially when she rags on other characters hubris.
2. Characters are completely underdeveloped and replaceable. The entire book could have been written with a cast of 10 and instead it had 30. After awhile I stopped consulting the cast section at the beginning of the book because I realized not only did I not care but it truly did not matter which character did what because it was all just about moving the plot forward and centering Max at all times. Literally no other plot point was every made with another character, every single thing was directly tied to her. So obnoxious only seeing the story from one persons - very limited - point of view. She didn't even have an empathy or wondered about others experiences. Just all about her in her head and how the whole of St Marys revolves around her constantly. Main Character Syndrome and I mean that in the most derogatory way possible.
3. Completely out of character development. And not in a "he wouldnt say that" way but in a truly is this person secretly multiple personalities way. Chief barging into Max's room and accusing her of adultery? And then fine two pages later? Absolutely makes no sense narrative and makes their relationship seem weak and unstable (while Max clearly thinks they are soul mates)
4. Jodi Taylor claiming historical accuracy can eat my entire ass. I dont even like history and i know more about the time periods that some of this book took place in.
5. The sex scenes??? Literal wtf moment. Aggressive, harsh, fast, out of place, crass. This wasn't smut it wasn't erotica it wasnt even porn. Crashing the bosses car and then having sex on the hood so aggressively that people notice when they get back? To quote "if this had been one of those books there would have been 3 pages of head banging sex" -- this right after Max and Chief fall asleep after being almost killed. WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN. Literally gibberish.
6. Speaking of sex, Sussmans bizarre sexual assault scene and then never mentioned again. What was the narrative point of having Sussman stick his dick in Max face? To prove she can beat someone else? Already done many times by her inflating her own fighting skills. To reinforce how bad he is? Taylor is just using nonsensical, out of left field sexual assault to make a character as bad. Do better. This is Outlander levels of "plot is stale so lets add some rape to move it along."
7. She lost a baby? She was pregnant? She had a cold and went to the clinic? Literal word salad. I was laughing on the bus because I thought I was having a stroke trying to understand what the fuck the author was trying to do with this story.
8. Casual, constant alcoholism, but clearly Jodi Taylor has never had a sip in her entire life. Max would go from black out drunk to writing a 100 page proposal in the same night. She also clearly was written to have an alcohol dependency but literally no one brought it up. This did not age well and Taylors lack of even basic understanding of this instantly pulled me from the story
In short, what an obnoxious, self-important I-am-so-quirky story. Probably the worst book I read all year and I've read a lot of shitty ones. So. Fucking. Weird.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, War, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Rape, Infertility, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Medical content, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
hannahreanie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death
ohyeah_karyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Gun violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
eloise__'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual harassment, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Blood, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Miscarriage, Vomit, and Child death
iamsammie27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Miscarriage and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Death, and Medical content
andloveistoolong's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexual violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War, Child death, Pregnancy, Excrement, Infidelity, and Terminal illness
floriancraft's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.25
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Death
ylba's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Alcoholism, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
bel017's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
It was fun (other than the dying, that was awful) and mad and slightly confusing.
I had trouble picturing the characters. The only person I could imagine was Ronan, who I envisaged as Jeremy Renner in Hawkeye (or it as Hawkeye? I haven't seen whatever movie it was, didn't even know the actor's name. My internet search history is now a confusion of searches like 'white male actor dark hair black outfit maybe avengers'). Anyway, I digress. I also found the main relationship confusing and uneven, it seemed to go from unrequited to full-on.
I like the ideas, and the premise, and the humor. I wonder if my lack of engagement in the world is just me having a bad day. I've had a bad month, actually it's been a pretty rough year--it's been, as it were, just one damned thing after another. I've been escaping into books a lot so maybe it's just me putting too much pressure on the book to draw me in. I look forward to reading the next one. Hopefully it'll have a few fewer characters and a few lines more description (never thought I'd say that, I'm not--at all--a fan of highly descriptive narratives).
It is the second book I've read this week that referenced Peterloo (the other was *A fashionable indulgence* by KJ Charles).
Graphic: Miscarriage and Death
firstknight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Murder, Rape, and Sexual content
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Suicidal thoughts