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sugarlife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical content, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Bullying, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Death, and Vomit
onion'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
4.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Medical content
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Child death, Alcohol, Bullying, and Abandonment
Minor: Blood
ariana3'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
4.0
Plot summary:
Graphic: Medical content, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Infertility
Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Grief, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Bullying, and Death
Minor: Abandonment, Self harm, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Alcohol
spaghettireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Medical content, Infidelity, Infertility, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Cursing, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
kimveach'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, Classism, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Grief, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Ableism, Cursing, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol
zosiablue'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
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abortion, Medical content, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Bullying
bella_cavicchi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Medical content, Death, Child abuse, Child death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexism and Bullying
kaylameaux's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Infertility, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, and Abandonment
princessxnicole'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
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, and Blood
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Death
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