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chefboyavi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Violence
sjclay122's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Rape, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child death, Toxic relationship, Racism, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Death of parent, Violence, Murder, and Hate crime
talonsontypewriters'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
2.5
Graphic: Racism, Kidnapping, Body horror, Hate crime, Grief, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Blood, Gore, Child death, Gun violence, Death, and Classism
Moderate: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Child abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Alcoholism
Minor: Suicide, Bullying, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Racial slurs, and Vomit
Misogynoir. Missing person/child. Descriptions of corpses (human and animal).macleanbridie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Stalking, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, and Alcohol
locoinfoco's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Racism, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
mlewis's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Gore, Racism, Alcohol, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit, Body shaming, and Rape
traa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Pedophilia, Vomit, Rape, and Eating disorder
Minor: Slavery and Cannibalism
daffodilcherry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Wheelhouse items: woman returning to her home town, murder mystery, kidnapping history, serial killers, supernatural aspects, wider conspiracy, black main character.
Favourite quotes: "If there's one thing fear can do, it's make a beast out of a shadow. It turns us all into monsters. The enemy of the shadow isn't light. It's sight."
"When your name is in other people's mouths, they twist it up. They make you into something you are not. When people take you outside yourself, that is when trouble comes."
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, and Violence
minimicropup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
- A New Yorker returning to their PA hometown for their childhood best friend’s wedding and staying with their Haitian mother, with whom they have a complicated relationship. There’s a reluctance about returning due to trauma, shame, and fear from the past and a recent relationship break-up.
- An unknown narrator describing the circumstances of each of the missing Black girls over the town’s history.
- Set in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in different eras, with the main action being present day
- Realistic IRL horrors from our world merged with those of another realm.
- Can we please have everyone describe characters the way this author does from now on? I loved getting the descriptions of the characters’ skin, hair, and style. It wasn’t overly detailed, and it helped bring the characters to life.
- The writing was jarring at times in a way that knocked me out of the story. I wasn’t skimming and yet I found that I had to re-read lines or go back a few pages to figure out what was going on occasionally. I especially struggled with this during the final action fight-for-your-life scenes.
- I have biases I’m not even aware of. This book helped me with that. I identified so much with our MC because of the author’s skill at gradually placing you in someone else’s mind and body. I don’t know how to say this in a way that isn’t cringey, but I came away from this story having more empathy about the pressures and experiences unique to young Black men and women in America. Like, insight into those subtle paper-cut-type wounds from how one is treated because of appearance and ancestry, and how they accumulate and harm how we view ourselves and others.
- Cerebral suspense/mystery
- Occult/supernatural entities, “stay out of the woods!” energy
- Subtle horror using metaphor, allegory, and personification to explore IRL horrors of racism, classism, and generational and regional trauma.
- Subjective, poetic type writing
Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Animal death, Classism, and Alcohol
Minor: Fatphobia
animal deaths are not of pets and are related to hunting in the woodsszyca's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Classism, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, and Blood