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bekah1210's review
mysterious
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Child death, and Suicide
Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Classism
Minor: Mental illness and Bullying
outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Six teenagers live in the 'Lit Lair', a beachfront mansion paid for by one their rich families. The six are mainly social media influencers, competing for followers, sponsorship deals, & their love lives. Things look perfect from the outside but the ugly underbelly of their lives are exposed when one of them is found dead in the pool. When a TikTok account starts to post messages about the death hinting that it may be murder, the police track the account & it is coming from inside the 'Lair' itself - is one of them a murderer?
Now I'll admit that I'm not the target audience for this book, I have absolutely no interest in using TikTok, but for me it was a chore to read. It could have been really good as it takes on some pretty heavy subjects such as online bullying, instead the plot became bogged down in petty rivalries, jealousies, & the most vapid exchanges you've ever read. The main characters in the house were not really fleshed out enough for the reader to actually care about what happens to any of them, & the F/F romance just felt a bit forced. Verdict: could have been so much better.
Now I'll admit that I'm not the target audience for this book, I have absolutely no interest in using TikTok, but for me it was a chore to read. It could have been really good as it takes on some pretty heavy subjects such as online bullying, instead the plot became bogged down in petty rivalries, jealousies, & the most vapid exchanges you've ever read. The main characters in the house were not really fleshed out enough for the reader to actually care about what happens to any of them, & the F/F romance just felt a bit forced. Verdict: could have been so much better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Bullying, and Death
Moderate: Infidelity
wackzo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Death, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Vomit
hollyk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This definitely is one of the more accurate portrayals of teens and TikTok that I've come across. I enjoyed seeing someone who ~got it~ and the mystery was intriguing.
One small complaint: the way the teens talked vacillated between very grown and very immature, (which as teens, immaturity is a given) but the inconsistency was a bit jarring. I also found the replacement for curse words a bit out of place (I'm not sure if there were restrictions because this is YA) but if there can be themes of underage drinking and weed, I feel like they should be allowed to use adult curse words. Most teens do--it was a bit out of place for there to be a sudden heck or crap.
Entertaining and kept me invested throughout. Plus the nods to social media (namely TikTok) were pretty spot on. Although idk why Drake was brought into this. That part was awkward lol
One small complaint: the way the teens talked vacillated between very grown and very immature, (which as teens, immaturity is a given) but the inconsistency was a bit jarring. I also found the replacement for curse words a bit out of place (I'm not sure if there were restrictions because this is YA) but if there can be themes of underage drinking and weed, I feel like they should be allowed to use adult curse words. Most teens do--it was a bit out of place for there to be a sudden heck or crap.
Entertaining and kept me invested throughout. Plus the nods to social media (namely TikTok) were pretty spot on. Although idk why Drake was brought into this. That part was awkward lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Grief, Drug use, Alcohol, Death, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Gore, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Bullying and Cursing
marchbabyy_08's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-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
3.0
Goodness. The book wasn't terrible, but it felt like I was reading a WattPad book. There was so much name dropping, which I guess makes sense for the topic of the book, but it felt weird to read.
I found all of the characters to be shallow and pretty boring. They didn't really h e any type of depth to them, making them all some TikTok stars that mainly care about making money and being famous, no matter their background.
It's kinda hard to share my criticisms without some kind of spoiler, but I will say I was almost immediately able to figure out what happened (with one detail being wrong) within one or two chapters of the death. Nothing really came as a surprise, which I feel should be one of the biggest elements of a mystery.
Idk, not the worst book, you might actually love it if you haven't read other modern-day YA mysteries.
I found all of the characters to be shallow and pretty boring. They didn't really h e any type of depth to them, making them all some TikTok stars that mainly care about making money and being famous, no matter their background.
It's kinda hard to share my criticisms without some kind of spoiler, but I will say I was almost immediately able to figure out what happened (with one detail being wrong) within one or two chapters of the death. Nothing really came as a surprise, which I feel should be one of the biggest elements of a mystery.
Idk, not the worst book, you might actually love it if you haven't read other modern-day YA mysteries.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Vomit and Bullying
anniereads221's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Grief, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Suicide, Medical content, Infidelity, Bullying, and Alcohol
booksofautumn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Vomit, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Gun violence
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