Scan barcode
lottselgar'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Suicide, Physical abuse, Murder, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, Addiction, and Sexism
Minor: Biphobia and Blood
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexism, Alcohol, and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Drug abuse
Minor: Eating disorder
lesbianpirate'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
3.0
Moderate: Racism, Eating disorder, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Sexism
tinstae'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
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Drug use, and Bullying
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Sexism
Minor: Vomit, Eating disorder, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia
sourkiwi'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Eating disorder
pagesofkenzie's review against another edition
4.0
Minor: Suicide, Violence, Sexism, Grief, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Misogyny, Death, and Bullying
rebecca142'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Violence, Alcohol, and Drug use
Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Eating disorder, and Grief
kaylamoran'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
Moderate: Grief, Drug use, Alcohol, Blood, and Death
Minor: Sexism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship
frogknitting's review against another edition
1.5
I really, really wanted to try to give this book a chance, but from the beginning I couldn't stop thinking about The Secret History. This is like the Kidz Bop version of it: a book that takes the basic structure of it but lacks the depth. It was entirely too long and yet it didn't have nearly the amount of time to go into what it needed to to succeed.
Though Richard isn't necessarily a carbon copy of Bunny, he takes his worst elements (as well as Henry's worst traits) and makes that his personality. No redeeming qualities, whereas I think Bunny had some? (I'm going to be honest, it's been a LONG time since I read TSH) At least, he was a lot better fleshed out. All of the characters in this were wholly one-dimensional, just being introduced at the beginning by name (all seven of them, by the way, so you have to fully know these people as well as
I genuinely want to write this review without consistently mentioning The Secret History, but I feel it's impossible. The draw of it is that it takes real moral questions and grapples with them, not letting plot rule it, but rather, letting the characters' musings take over. I know that's a personal preference of mine, but this was very much a show not tell book, where you simply were told what was happening and had to go with it.
The other characters: I have gripes with them because of how poorly written they are. Yes, it's the memory of a man ten years later, and yes, they're definitely not supposed to be good people, but there was really no need for a lot of it.
There's just a lot in this book, and none of it is developed particularly well. The consistent Shakespeare quotes were annoying, I agree, although I think near the beginning they were used more sparingly and better. It seemed scrambled together, meaning to meet a deadline, and there were no explanations for many of their actions beyond 1. plot convenience or 2. black mold. 1.5 stars because, as much as I've complained, the prose in the first half wasn't horrible and seemed pretty standard for YA, making it not a complete burden to get through.
Graphic: Body shaming, Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexism, and Addiction
Moderate: Eating disorder
emilo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Toxic friendship