Reviews

3.5 stars. Rounded down for the confusing and ridiculous ending. I was with this book all the way to the end. I got totally lost with the supernatural elements that came in at the end. Black life is scary enough without adding the supernatural.

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

Content Warnings

opplecopter's review against another edition

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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

4.75

seehayfly's review

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5.0

Heavy. Incredibly well written, I found myself holding my breath almost the entire time. Lots of reflection: on society and oneself. The ending fell a little flat for me, but I loved the constant twists and turns.

ameliabee33's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

I have to admit the idea of an eldrich horror, a monster in the woods that no one talks about is intriguing. I've seen a lot of discussion about the difference between Appalachian cryptids and Midwest cryptids. If you hear a sound in the woods you don't look at it or acknowledge it in Appalachia. Which is what is done in this book.

The whodunit definitely kept me guessing, I had a hunch about who it was but then it switched every so often. There was a pool of suspects that all had motive so it easily could be any one of them. The person it ends up being was just enough of a surprise to be entertaining.

Liz as a character has suchna fraught history with the town. She has a fraught history with her mother. She even has a fraught relationship with her best friend who is getting married. She is the black girl that escaped the fate so she isn't a part of that community. She tries to escape all of this with alcohol, to numb the fear she feels all the time. It was sad and anxiety I during to read about how everyone turned against her or thought she did it.

The relationship between Liz and her white friend was interesting. Her white friend didn't want to confront the reality that her black daughter was going g to have to face. She didn't want to confront her own family's racism, which she then took out on Liz. I honestly don't know how they were friends at some points, I would have liked maybe a few better moments with them both.

The ending is what lost me and why I gave it the rating it did. The whole point was to get to the confrontation of what was in the woods and Liz. Liz had a hold over it. And the way their final "battle" was described I found to be messy and confusing. Maybe that was the point, maybe I didn't get it. But even me rewinding the audiobook to relisten had me confused.

jkpiowa's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

burghblakebooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

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