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lattelibrarian's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This slow-burn of a novel becomes lightning fast once you realized how unreliable Roz is.
Roz sold her hand, drunk and desperate, for a million dollars. Haunted by excruciating phantom pain, she seeks therapy and a clinical drug trial. She can't quite quit her drinking habit, and the result is a strange hallucination: she can feel her hand--the phantom one. And she can feel it kill. Is it possible her hand has been sold to a serial killer? After all, the Phantom Strangler has returned after being dormant for so long...
Reading this book is like getting whiplash. You're certain you know what's going on...until you're not. And just when you think a-HA! The rug is pulled out from under you yet again.
It's clear Powers has spent lots of time creating this weaving story full of underground networks, white-collar crime, and unreliable characters. Her hard work has paid off greatly in creating a book about a newly disabled protagonist who is just as punchy as she is mouthy.
Roz sold her hand, drunk and desperate, for a million dollars. Haunted by excruciating phantom pain, she seeks therapy and a clinical drug trial. She can't quite quit her drinking habit, and the result is a strange hallucination: she can feel her hand--the phantom one. And she can feel it kill. Is it possible her hand has been sold to a serial killer? After all, the Phantom Strangler has returned after being dormant for so long...
Reading this book is like getting whiplash. You're certain you know what's going on...until you're not. And just when you think a-HA! The rug is pulled out from under you yet again.
It's clear Powers has spent lots of time creating this weaving story full of underground networks, white-collar crime, and unreliable characters. Her hard work has paid off greatly in creating a book about a newly disabled protagonist who is just as punchy as she is mouthy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gun violence, and Murder
clovetra's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
2.0
i need to preface this review by stating i feel so bad for everything im about to say. i know an indie author wrote this, and i know one measly goodreads review wont ruin her entire life but i don't want to shit on her! this book had some great elements! the overall plot is so out there its insane. sci-fi mixed with horror mixed with thriller mixed with romance? sign me up. i found roz soooo funny, and i loved how annoying she was. roz was insufferable and that's how i like my main characters sometimes! now, i will begin with the smallest gripe i have - sometimes roz is too snippy. like yeah ok i get her schtick is shes a bitch. we are one in the same. but sometimes its almost exhausting how she's a broken record of alcoholism and self-sabotage. is it realistic? yes! did i find it excruciating! often.
i will also say there was no need for a romance plot. i think this book struggled because it tried to do so much. i appreciate the enthusiasm and i can smell the love for reading through power's work. but there's so much going on, it feels at times that nothing was fully tied up.after the psych reveal, essentially everything is explained, but it still felt flat. like there was still a lack of motive. and that there was too much time spent on how much roz is infatuated with jace. like im sorry the mum being dead bomb felt like it was left still slightly open! . i also felt like there was a looooot of padding, and then the ending was rushed in the span of 3 chapters... in a 70 chapter book. i think some cutting was needed, either cutting plots or cutting ideas.
can i also say after 500 pages it feels that characters were not characterised? like they felt very surface level. i could not give you more than a couple adjectives to describe jace, and they are all very surface level, and sadly that extends to even the mc, roz, who's entire character is that shes an awful person. roz also somehow is clairvoyant (/j); it feels like she comes to realisations too quickly, or makes massive logic jumps to get there that a real person wouldn't make!
also i just need to bring up again how rushed the ending was.why is ben back. was the cop dirty? i felt like the confrontation needed to be longer and more in-depth
and my final final gripe is about tropes.im sorry im SO over the psychologist is evil trope. im sorry it feels overdone. i could also lowkey smell it from a mile away....
anyways i WILL say this book was addicting and even though it sounds like i hated this, i did have a fun time reading this! roz is full of quips, and as i said earlier, i love me an insufferable protagonist.
i will also say there was no need for a romance plot. i think this book struggled because it tried to do so much. i appreciate the enthusiasm and i can smell the love for reading through power's work. but there's so much going on, it feels at times that nothing was fully tied up.
can i also say after 500 pages it feels that characters were not characterised? like they felt very surface level. i could not give you more than a couple adjectives to describe jace, and they are all very surface level, and sadly that extends to even the mc, roz, who's entire character is that shes an awful person. roz also somehow is clairvoyant (/j); it feels like she comes to realisations too quickly, or makes massive logic jumps to get there that a real person wouldn't make!
also i just need to bring up again how rushed the ending was.
and my final final gripe is about tropes.
anyways i WILL say this book was addicting and even though it sounds like i hated this, i did have a fun time reading this! roz is full of quips, and as i said earlier, i love me an insufferable protagonist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Addiction, Drug abuse, Medical content, Blood, Death, Body horror, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Gun violence, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content, Cancer, and Death of parent
kvillanueva's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Gore
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