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rishel's review against another edition
Graphic: Miscarriage, Infertility, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail
thatswhatshanread's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
WOW!!! An incredibly fascinating second novel from Ashley Audrain. I was immediately invested in the deep tangle of suburban domesticity between the three families at the helm of this story, and even the fourth family’s insights sprinkled throughout. Audrain commands your attention with every page, every insane detail that feels hot in your hands, like juicy but disturbing neighborhood gossip you’re only so lucky to be privy too. Like you are one of the periphery moms, whispering about only the surface of the twisted, mangled iceberg.
This is as much a novel about marriages and parent-child relationships under pressure as it is a novel of suspense. Which is to say, this isn’t exactly a thriller, but very much so an intense domestic drama that leaves you clutching at your pearls, as they say, as the characters’ lives unravel. A child in a coma, due to mysterious circumstances. His parents, his neighbors, none of them quite who they seem. Rumors everywhere. Lies as abundant as a cup full of sugar.
I throughly enjoyed this one. I loved the intensity, the explicitness, the shock, every character interwoven into another in the most unexpected ways. This is a deliciously spiraling novel that makes you think a whole lot about the lives of those acquaintances around you that may be entirely different from what you only see from the end of the driveway. Or overheard from an open window…
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Blood, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Alcohol, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts
mysterymom40's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Classism, Death, Medical content, and Racism
nicolegw's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Child abuse
laurenabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I won’t go into a summary, but while I find this book to be raw and insightful, I didn’t find it especially well written or constructed. There are too many voices, too many timelines, too many unnecessarily jarring scenes that come off gratuitous for shock value. If the book is about womanhood and how hard it is, about motherhood and what defines it, about escaping what we thought we wanted for what we think we can live with… I understand the purpose of the book but found it poorly executed.
Whitney and Blair are both monstrous, the husbands are all unfit, and the kids are uniformly forsaken for their parents’ petty whims.
The ending was predictable and no one emerges from the text unscathed. So what was the point? What I’m sure started off as a character study ended up being more of a grueling race to the finish, which is actually where the story begins.
I’m befuddled and let down, frankly.
Graphic: Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Moderate: Self harm, Abortion, Bullying, Child death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment, Murder, and Gaslighting
slad's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Child abuse
onewoman_bookclub's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Medical content
valerie_roller's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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: Miscarriage, Infertility, and Infidelity
Moderate: Child abuse and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism
tbretc's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
t_aylorr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Child abuse