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obsessivebooklover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Suicide, Fatphobia, and Drug abuse
emory's review
- 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? Yes
Laundry list of annoyances aside, it's a great version of those classic sorts of "big house, high society, dirty secrets" mysteries.
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Fatphobia, Death, Murder, and Child death
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Animal death
One character our narrator inhabits is described as very fat, and while in this body the narrator never stops talking about how disgusting and shameful it is and how he can barely move. It is very oversold and strongly implied thatbreadbummer'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
3.5
As far as content goes, whenever a cis man writes a book like this with not a few female characters in it, I expect a "she breasted boobily down the stairs" moment to show itself before too terribly long or at least for pretty much all the women to fall for the central male character (no matter how strongly they're written) but, to my pleasant surprise, I don't ever actually remember this happening. HOWEVER!!! If you're particularly sensitive to fatphobia, don't bother even touching this book, much less opening it up. The rather long section in which the main character goes through the day as Ravencourt is punctuated pretty much every sentence or two with disgust of the host's body. It got to be so uncomfortable that I almost dropped the book entirely if it weren't for the fact that I was behind on my reading goal.
I just finished it like half an hour ago, so my take on the ending might still need some time to cook, but I think I enjoyed it. I certainly got got about who the culprit ended up being (which took me some time to appreciate more), and I thought the idea of this whole scenario of Blackheath being kind of like
Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Murder, Child death, Suicide, Body shaming, Stalking, and Classism
Moderate: Self harm, Gun violence, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Drug use, Animal death, Rape, Car accident, Blood, and Body horror
jenbertface's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.75
Moderate: Fatphobia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Child death
Minor: Grief, Infidelity, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Rape, and Self harm
retswerb'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
3.75
Worth checking content warnings on this one if you’re sensitive. There are multiple descriptions of murder from the perspective of the victim(s) which were pretty brutal. Also worth noting that the narrator’s response to the experience of being fat is pretty over the top.
Graphic: Murder, Ableism, Fatphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
metanav's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Fatphobia and Murder
Moderate: Child death and Suicide
Minor: Rape, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
To start this off, the ending is pretty flat. It's a bit disappointing after the thrilling and complex rollercoaster the rest of the book is - but I don't think it was so bad it ruined it honestly. I wouldn't recommend reading it for the ending, certainly read it for the journey and puzzle it'll lead you through and the complex weaving story of twists and turns.
I will not go into a decent-length talk about the plot, all you need to know is it's a time-loop concept with body hopping to solve a murder - and nothing is as it first seems like. Not all the characters are likeable, but I believe they're not actually meant to be likeable anyways.
I quite liked the main trio: Aiden, Anna and Plague Doc. While I didn't love who they where, I was interested in their motivations, backgrounds and goals and was curious as to what they'd do next.
With the story starting essentially with the end and working backwards, you get this really complex puzzle-like mystery that slowly builds up more and more, but both you and the MC are given the same pieces to work with. It's a book I'd have loved to do the string-and-pin board meme with!
It does get complex and confusing, my copy of the book had a guest list in the front + a map - I *heavily* used the guest list and tried to keep a short bullet point list for the major players in my head. If your memory is as bad as mine is, or you read over a long period of time/in short bursts, highly recommend to take notes while reading! It's certainly a book to read if you have time to commit to it.
The ending though, man the ending. It's just a bit sad honestly. It feels like a cop-out that got tagged onto the end last second. Almost as if the journey to the end was the only focus, and the ending hadn't gotten thought of until right before publication. It's just a bit too convenient, a bit too.. dumb? Plain? after how complex the whole thing was it was just a bit too plain imo.
The world building however and the whole story around the timeloops I felt was fascinating and heavily under-explained sadly. I'd have loved to have seen more around that side of things.
Graphic: Murder, Fatphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Gore, Ableism, Death, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual assault
missmandymarie's review
- 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
4.5
Definitely the type of book that makes me want to go back and read again to see the set up as it’s happening.
T/w - descriptions of violence, suicide, murder, mentions of rape
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
Moderate: Rape
redefiningrachel'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? It's complicated
1.0
Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, and Stalking
Moderate: Gore, Drug use, Misogyny, and Grief
bergha1998'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
3.75
Murder Mystery, Slightly Fantastical, Lots of Violence/Murders
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Blood, Drug use, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Child death, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape