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ghostlyreader's review against another edition
2.0
First of all, all the adults in this book were useless. Jules shouldn’t have even been a character honestly because she ended up really bringing nothing to the story. She didn’t even read like an adult. Then you had Amber and Mark who were irresponsible and kept things from the only people who were trying to help them.
On top of that, the “plot twist” came out of no where at the end of the book.
On top of that, the “plot twist” came out of no where at the end of the book.
meb1202's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nickimonkey's review against another edition
After it basically insinuated, this mother was in love with her son’s classmate. I had to stop reading.
nbrooks1207's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
danielizabeth2608's review against another edition
1.0
What the actual eff did I just read? I am not here for it at all! I was so intrigued to begin with and then this book just kept going further and further off the deep end (pun intended) it's a hard nope from me!
ctidwell03's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sgreenfield93's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
olgal's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.75
litwithleigh's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before publication. IYKYK, my reviews are always honest.
And thank you SabiReads for ranting about this book with me :)
Writing: 2/5 | Plot: 2/5 | Ending: 2/5
THE PLOT
The title sums it up. Jules literally goes off the deep end by crashing her car in the icy river. Then she mentally goes off the deep end and begins grooming the other survivor of the crash, a 15-year-old boy named Isaac. And when Isaac goes missing, his parents wonder if it was because of a serial killer snatching boys off da skreets or because of Jules going off the deep end.
THIS BOOK IS LIKE...
Paying for a Michelin 5 star restaurant and they serve you a big Mac and you're like ight that's fine but I didn't pay $135 this
MY OPINION
First things first, this was MUCH better than Under Her Care. This was closer to Lucinda Berry's previous bangers—Appetite for Innocence and Saving Noah. However, similar to UHC, I found myself wishing Jules to get in the car with Amber (Isaac's mom) and drive into the river again. They are both insufferable.
So then I was thinking to myself, why the fuck do I dislike her last two books so much? And thanks to jet lag, I woke up at 4am and realized it's because she doesn't write good adult characters. Berry is a child psychologist, so when she writes from the POV of a child, she absolutely nails it. She captures the child's mind perfectly.
But when she writes an adult POV, she doesn't change her approach. The adult characters have the same traits as the children, so they come off delusional, immature, and annoying af. The amount of times a grown adult "giggled" in this story should be illegal. I never want to read that word again. Also proclaiming "I knew I was right!!!" when the lead detective confirms your suspicions about Jules potentially being involved with your sons kidnapping is possibly the most immature reaction you could have.
SPOILER WARNING SO SCROLL FURIOUSLY TO THE BOTTOM IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT
And like UHC, I found the choice of POVs useless given how the story panned out. What was the point of Jules other than to provide shock value. She had absolutely nothing to do with the "final act." Nothing. It seemed like she was there to demonstrate different symptoms of severe trauma as part of a training manual or something. Every time the psychologist (mad unprofessional btw) mentioned a "symptom" like hyper-sexuality, suddenly Jules would take on those traits. It was like a weird game of "Simon says"—Dr. Stephens says.
Given that the conclusion was about how Isaac used video games to spread and encourage violence which then bubbled over into real life (btw there were no clues that would be the ending whatsoever, it was just tossed on in there), one of the POVs should've been his. I didn't need to read about Amber saying: JULES DID THIS SHIT every single chapter. She provided no value to the story either. The worried mother shtick got real old real fast.
Lastly, like UHC, which I believe should've been about munchausen disorder instead of autism, I think the focus of this book was off. Considering how it ended, it should've focused on how bullying pushed Isaac to find comfort in an online world where he could be the bullier, and then drove him to commit awful violent crimes IRL. The whole video game thing wasn't even mentioned until 80% of the book was done, but yet it was crucial to Isaac's final act. I don't get it? Anyways.
I hope Lucinda goes back to writing children's POVs and leaves the adults as side characters. That's why Appetite for Innocence goes so hard. I remember when I read Saving Noah I wanted to fight the mom so bad, but the storyline and flashbacks were so interesting, I could blow past it. But when I'm forced to endure TWO painfully immature "adult" POVs, I just can't do it. It's tough to enjoy a book when you can't identify who the protagonist is.
PROS AND CONS:
Pros: better than under her care, the content was more interesting
Cons: wanted to fight both of the adults, did not give a single fuck if Isaac turned up dead or alive, the ending was so random.
And thank you SabiReads for ranting about this book with me :)
Writing: 2/5 | Plot: 2/5 | Ending: 2/5
THE PLOT
The title sums it up. Jules literally goes off the deep end by crashing her car in the icy river. Then she mentally goes off the deep end and begins grooming the other survivor of the crash, a 15-year-old boy named Isaac. And when Isaac goes missing, his parents wonder if it was because of a serial killer snatching boys off da skreets or because of Jules going off the deep end.
THIS BOOK IS LIKE...
Paying for a Michelin 5 star restaurant and they serve you a big Mac and you're like ight that's fine but I didn't pay $135 this
MY OPINION
First things first, this was MUCH better than Under Her Care. This was closer to Lucinda Berry's previous bangers—Appetite for Innocence and Saving Noah. However, similar to UHC, I found myself wishing Jules to get in the car with Amber (Isaac's mom) and drive into the river again. They are both insufferable.
So then I was thinking to myself, why the fuck do I dislike her last two books so much? And thanks to jet lag, I woke up at 4am and realized it's because she doesn't write good adult characters. Berry is a child psychologist, so when she writes from the POV of a child, she absolutely nails it. She captures the child's mind perfectly.
But when she writes an adult POV, she doesn't change her approach. The adult characters have the same traits as the children, so they come off delusional, immature, and annoying af. The amount of times a grown adult "giggled" in this story should be illegal. I never want to read that word again. Also proclaiming "I knew I was right!!!" when the lead detective confirms your suspicions about Jules potentially being involved with your sons kidnapping is possibly the most immature reaction you could have.
SPOILER WARNING SO SCROLL FURIOUSLY TO THE BOTTOM IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT
And like UHC, I found the choice of POVs useless given how the story panned out. What was the point of Jules other than to provide shock value. She had absolutely nothing to do with the "final act." Nothing. It seemed like she was there to demonstrate different symptoms of severe trauma as part of a training manual or something. Every time the psychologist (mad unprofessional btw) mentioned a "symptom" like hyper-sexuality, suddenly Jules would take on those traits. It was like a weird game of "Simon says"—Dr. Stephens says.
Given that the conclusion was about how Isaac used video games to spread and encourage violence which then bubbled over into real life (btw there were no clues that would be the ending whatsoever, it was just tossed on in there), one of the POVs should've been his. I didn't need to read about Amber saying: JULES DID THIS SHIT every single chapter. She provided no value to the story either. The worried mother shtick got real old real fast.
Lastly, like UHC, which I believe should've been about munchausen disorder instead of autism, I think the focus of this book was off. Considering how it ended, it should've focused on how bullying pushed Isaac to find comfort in an online world where he could be the bullier, and then drove him to commit awful violent crimes IRL. The whole video game thing wasn't even mentioned until 80% of the book was done, but yet it was crucial to Isaac's final act. I don't get it? Anyways.
I hope Lucinda goes back to writing children's POVs and leaves the adults as side characters. That's why Appetite for Innocence goes so hard. I remember when I read Saving Noah I wanted to fight the mom so bad, but the storyline and flashbacks were so interesting, I could blow past it. But when I'm forced to endure TWO painfully immature "adult" POVs, I just can't do it. It's tough to enjoy a book when you can't identify who the protagonist is.
PROS AND CONS:
Pros: better than under her care, the content was more interesting
Cons: wanted to fight both of the adults, did not give a single fuck if Isaac turned up dead or alive, the ending was so random.
karlyo83's review against another edition
1.0
My Rating System: 1⭐️ ticked no boxes COMPLETE FAIL!!!
Jules Hart by her own admission has had a dreamy life one without tragedy and loss, that is until the night she loses control of her car and it plunges into the icy depths of the lake. In the car with her is her only child, 15 year old Gabe and the neighbours 15 year old son Issac.
Jules only manages to save one child… not her son. Wracked with self loathing and guilt Jules indeed goes Off the Deep End and her mental state deteriorates into a violent and unstable mess.
Ten months later Isaac disappears and Jules is at the heart of the investigation but did she have anything to do with his kidnapping? Jules has a secret but is adamant she is not the person they are looking for. Who has Isaac? And what dangerous secret is Jules hiding?
WOW - let me tell you I was pretty excited that my Goodreads buddy GirlWithThePinkSkiMask alerted me to this latest book from [a:Lucinda Berry|14550035|Lucinda Berry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1588998504p2/14550035.jpg]. At that stage I did not know what I was in for… let me set the record straight after reading 4 or 5 of LB’s other books and loving [b:Appetite for Innocence|54487129|Appetite for Innocence|Lucinda Berry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594621970l/54487129._SX50_.jpg|55818004] and [b:Phantom Limb|58026804|Phantom Limb|Lucinda Berry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1620854855l/58026804._SX50_.jpg|54400127] to a 5⭐️star level - I was ready for this.
Jules Hart by her own admission has had a dreamy life one without tragedy and loss, that is until the night she loses control of her car and it plunges into the icy depths of the lake. In the car with her is her only child, 15 year old Gabe and the neighbours 15 year old son Issac.
Jules only manages to save one child… not her son. Wracked with self loathing and guilt Jules indeed goes Off the Deep End and her mental state deteriorates into a violent and unstable mess.
Ten months later Isaac disappears and Jules is at the heart of the investigation but did she have anything to do with his kidnapping? Jules has a secret but is adamant she is not the person they are looking for. Who has Isaac? And what dangerous secret is Jules hiding?
WOW - let me tell you I was pretty excited that my Goodreads buddy GirlWithThePinkSkiMask alerted me to this latest book from [a:Lucinda Berry|14550035|Lucinda Berry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1588998504p2/14550035.jpg]. At that stage I did not know what I was in for… let me set the record straight after reading 4 or 5 of LB’s other books and loving [b:Appetite for Innocence|54487129|Appetite for Innocence|Lucinda Berry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594621970l/54487129._SX50_.jpg|55818004] and [b:Phantom Limb|58026804|Phantom Limb|Lucinda Berry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1620854855l/58026804._SX50_.jpg|54400127] to a 5⭐️star level - I was ready for this.