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eachz's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
UPDATE
I feel the need to knock this down a point after realizing the full extent of the author's using a real story for the plot. I did know upfront that she was inspired by a true story of twins where one had an accident that left him with almost total amnesia other than remembering his twin's face and name. But then I learned thatthe real life twins were in fact both victims of sexual abuse as children which the remembering twin tried to protect his brother from. Knowing this made the authors treatment feel cheap and kinda gross.
Original review below.
Positives
I really tore through the first half of this book; it's really gripping in its mystery. The back and forth timeline is employed well, and Kat's journey of self (re)discovery is interesting to follow along with.
Negatives
I found the end less than satisfying -- a lot of the reveals/resolutions frankly didn't make sense.
For example:
Violet's blackmail was a primary impetus of the conflict. But supposedly the twins ran away around the same time as Jude's betrayal/Violet getting sent to the big house. But the twins get rescued by Violet's mother only days after they run away. Why wouldn't she retrieve her daughter as soon as she found out what was going on??
That was my biggest plot confusion but there were lots of little things too. And aside from Kat, I found most of the characters pretty flat.
I feel the need to knock this down a point after realizing the full extent of the author's using a real story for the plot. I did know upfront that she was inspired by a true story of twins where one had an accident that left him with almost total amnesia other than remembering his twin's face and name. But then I learned that
Original review below.
Positives
I really tore through the first half of this book; it's really gripping in its mystery. The back and forth timeline is employed well, and Kat's journey of self (re)discovery is interesting to follow along with.
Negatives
I found the end less than satisfying -- a lot of the reveals/resolutions frankly didn't make sense.
For example:
That was my biggest plot confusion but there were lots of little things too. And aside from Kat, I found most of the characters pretty flat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia, Animal death, Gun violence, and Car accident
lildawnprince's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Excrement, Trafficking, Death, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, and Suicide
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, and Child abuse
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, and Drug abuse
chaos_carrie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
As far as thrillers go, this one was much more suspenseful than it was thrilling. Also, it absolutely should come with trigger warnings for pedophilia, emotional and physical child abuse, and murder and more…
The audiobook narration was fine but the actual writing was very slow, with the Kat essentially stumbling around in the dark to understand her life until the last 25% or so. The thread of the twins only difference being Jude’s queerness felt heavy handed at best.
Once things picked up, the writing got a bit better, but overall I found this to have too many threads to follow, while also somehow being a bit boring until shortly before the end.
The audiobook narration was fine but the actual writing was very slow, with the Kat essentially stumbling around in the dark to understand her life until the last 25% or so. The thread of the twins only difference being Jude’s queerness felt heavy handed at best.
Once things picked up, the writing got a bit better, but overall I found this to have too many threads to follow, while also somehow being a bit boring until shortly before the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Murder, Child abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Suicide, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
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