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cate_and_ginger's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
zosiablue's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-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
3.5
I truly think Audrain is a horror writer who hasn't yet embraced the genre. This is ostensibly a domestic drama that focuses on an incident where a child falls out a window, which unravels a series of secrets and affairs and betrayals. And I appreciate all the different kinds of motherhood she portrays (and I think actual parents would appreciate it more). But she's riding the line between the domestic drama and straight-up gory horror and I want her to go all the way. The genre mashup could work, but it doesn't here - it's whiplash instead of clever. But the potential is there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abortion, Medical content, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Bullying
laurenabeth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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
This was unfortunately a major miss for me. The non-linear timeline, the focus being on the most unredeemable characters, and the predictability of the ending truly disappointed me.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
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