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bookytaunton's review against another edition
5.0
Devoured this one! The blurb doesn’t give much away, so I won’t either. The story flipped my expectations repeatedly right up until its end.
sydlyn12's review against another edition
3.0
Wtf was that??? A few plot lines I wanted to know more about that were left unfinished. Started out promising but the ending was sort of meh
zoecrook's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
shimmery's review against another edition
1.0
What in the world…
So blown away by the reception this book has got. I don’t even know where to begin.
First part we are shown things from Marissa’s point of view, she is painted as kind of awful and insufferable but there are some backstory events crudely stuck in (abandonment from her mother, a sexual assault) I guess in a lazy way to add depth to her character?
Then we see things from Kate’s point of view and are presumably meant to hate Marissa along with her. I think this could have been a worthy novel about the struggles of trying to conceive, had there not been a mentally ill character shoved in as a villain to add to the infertile mother’s hardships. Poor Kate, she can’t have a baby and now there’s an insane woman she’s having to use as a surrogate!
I was just in utter disbelief that a schizophrenic/bipolar (totally different but seems like Day couldn’t make up her mind which set of vulnerable people to demonise) character had been inserted as some kind of thrilling plot twist and that a whole publisher and millions of readers had got behind it. There is one point towards the end of the book where Kate is feeling sorry for herself that people don’t hate Marissa (a mentally ill woman with no family or financial security) when her mother in law spells out that actually Kate has taken advantage of a mentally ill, vulnerable woman (at first perhaps by accident but then knowingly as they whip her off to the countryside and make the decision not to involve any medical professionals outside the family) — but that isn’t allowed to be any kind of moral reckoning as then the mother in law comes out with some other evil nonsense in attempts to again make the reader side with Kate.
Any readers who actually know anyone with Schizophrenia will likely find this book as infuriating as I did having a close family member suffer. Day and her whole team have created something here in their utter ignorance that in its insidious way adds to the plethora of misinformation about this very serious illness.
The fact Marissa skips off at the end travelling, out of the way of their family now you want a happy ending? lol.
Awful, awful book. The positive response it has received really shows how little understanding there is for this kind of mental illness in our society.
So blown away by the reception this book has got. I don’t even know where to begin.
First part we are shown things from Marissa’s point of view, she is painted as kind of awful and insufferable but there are some backstory events crudely stuck in (abandonment from her mother, a sexual assault) I guess in a lazy way to add depth to her character?
Then we see things from Kate’s point of view and are presumably meant to hate Marissa along with her. I think this could have been a worthy novel about the struggles of trying to conceive, had there not been a mentally ill character shoved in as a villain to add to the infertile mother’s hardships. Poor Kate, she can’t have a baby and now there’s an insane woman she’s having to use as a surrogate!
I was just in utter disbelief that a schizophrenic/bipolar (totally different but seems like Day couldn’t make up her mind which set of vulnerable people to demonise) character had been inserted as some kind of thrilling plot twist and that a whole publisher and millions of readers had got behind it. There is one point towards the end of the book where Kate is feeling sorry for herself that people don’t hate Marissa (a mentally ill woman with no family or financial security) when her mother in law spells out that actually Kate has taken advantage of a mentally ill, vulnerable woman (at first perhaps by accident but then knowingly as they whip her off to the countryside and make the decision not to involve any medical professionals outside the family) — but that isn’t allowed to be any kind of moral reckoning as then the mother in law comes out with some other evil nonsense in attempts to again make the reader side with Kate.
Any readers who actually know anyone with Schizophrenia will likely find this book as infuriating as I did having a close family member suffer. Day and her whole team have created something here in their utter ignorance that in its insidious way adds to the plethora of misinformation about this very serious illness.
The fact Marissa skips off at the end travelling, out of the way of their family now you want a happy ending? lol.
Awful, awful book. The positive response it has received really shows how little understanding there is for this kind of mental illness in our society.
sarah787's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
eilidhwarnock's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
What a rollercoaster!! I didn't really read much about the book before going into it, all I knew was that it was a thriller. It very much gave me a similar experience to reading The Girl on the Train which I loved!!
I found the first third a bit hard to get into but then the tables turned and things started to get VERY interesting. The characters were really well fleshed out and it was just such a gripping page turning read from about 40% in I'd say. Very enjoyable reading experience as I've not had a thriller book where I've been that engrossed in a long time!
The one thing I wasn't entirely sure on was how it ended, I feel there was almost too much explaining and bow-tying? I still enjoyed it but do think it could have been condensed to give more oomph to the plot twists!
I found the first third a bit hard to get into but then the tables turned and things started to get VERY interesting. The characters were really well fleshed out and it was just such a gripping page turning read from about 40% in I'd say. Very enjoyable reading experience as I've not had a thriller book where I've been that engrossed in a long time!
The one thing I wasn't entirely sure on was how it ended, I feel there was almost too much explaining and bow-tying? I still enjoyed it but do think it could have been condensed to give more oomph to the plot twists!
natashaanson's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bookbug78's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
carmoonyy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Miscarriage and Violence