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Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment
Minor: Addiction
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
This was batsh*t crazy but entertaining.
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting
Minor: Addiction, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol
The main protagonist despite being thirty has a maturity of teenage girl and never seems to take almost maiming even if accidentally another author so she can’t write seriously but we’re expected to treat being ghosted by a friend as remotely a similar grievance especially as she imagines the woman as horrible friend any way but feels entitled to the woman never ending the friendship on terms different from the protagonist. It’s incredibly immature that we’re expected to both sides. Also the only black woman is constantly stereotyped and feels like she’s there to be the clan and collected characters and constantly associated with Africa, and slavery from lion necklace to someone who’s family is from Senegal saying her family came over the trans Atlantic slave trade when that’s African Americans. I genuinely think the majority of her on screen dialogue had the book discussing her in association with Africa or slavery more then anything else or having her awkwardly accuse the other white women reducing her to angry black woman that instead of critiquing racism in white liberal spaces felt the non black author feeling incredibly self conscious about her own black character and almost entirely white cast.
Also I’ve enjoyed books within books before but while the one here is related to the events in the book it reads like bad historical fiction.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
I really enjoyed how, in the first part of the book, I was constantly questioning whether the book was supernatural or not, and whether these things were going to be real or a figment of the character's imagination. It really left the story wide open for a long time and made it hard for me to figure out what was going to happen.
I think the pacing of this book was great, there was always something happening and the information we needed was sprinkled through the story such that I was able to piece SOME of it together eventually but I never quite saw the whole reveal. Even when we did get the information I'd guessed revealed, it was more of an "AHA I WAS RIGHT!" moment instead of a "oh yeah that was obvious" moment as the signs were subtle but there, which I really liked about it. All the reveals made sense when looking back at the information given.
Though this seems like a contentious point, I liked that the big reveal of why everything was happening came relatively early on in the book compared to other thrillers, it really allowed for the resolution to be fleshed out. After this point, things got absolutely chaotic and ridiculous but, in my opinion, it was just enough on the realistic side of ridiculous that it was enjoyable and not cringey. From someone who hasn't read horror, it did seem like the book pushed more into the horror realm from a mystery thriller in the second half too.
Avoiding spoilers, I think the ending could've packed a bit more punch and I was hoping something specific would happen based on something said by a character but it didn't end up happening. But in the big scheme of the book, this was only a small detail so didn't take away much from my overall enjoyment.
I liked the role the characters played in this novel and Kiera is my queen. I didn't particularly connect emotionally to all characters but they all played the role they needed to in the story to make me engrossed.
Overall, I'm not sure why this book is rated so low because I had a wonderful time with it and absolutely devoured the book in just over two days. I would recommend this to people who enjoy slightly ridiculous but intense thrillers.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Addiction
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation