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vigil'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
once
iris hollow is a shell of a character and waste of a protagonist. she has no character traits aside from being the victim in everything somehow, having her only friend be her mother, and she's not like other girls (namely her sisters, and the popular girls). she has a dissonant picture of morality, especially her own that does not line up with her actions. she chooses (along with vivi, who is barely a character as well) to condemn her elder sister grey for her actions that she a). went along with, b) actively chose to forget about in order to ignore her own culpability, c) continuously benefits from, even as the book ends. i bring this up because for a large portion of the book it had allowed space for ambiguity, power, and for girls to be unlikable, inaccessible, and the like without condemning them. which why i thought the black and white thinking on display was a waste for a book like this. especially when the main character is either culpable, or actively benefiting from the things grey has done. tossing aside your most interesting character like this was not a narrative choice that i enjoyed nor one that enriched the book imo. where's her introspection about that, or
it has representation, if you could even call it that. iris is bisexual, and vivi is a lesbian. there is no romantic plot for really any of the sisters, yet
all in all, this book fell off hard for me towards the end. the plot twist was ultimately unsatisfying in its execution and easily predictable. i'm more disappointed by this one than other ones, because it had excellent potential, especially for the first 200 pages. everything after that after that is just a waste. i think my largest complaint is that sutherland set up a plot that is not fully suited to the genre that it’s in (YA) and would have been a better richer the narrative as an adult or even new adult book.
Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Vomit, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual harassment, and Suicide
mpbookreviews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Death of parent, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Child death, and Mental illness
gladys_enmarte's review against another edition
3.5
Años después, cuando Grey tiene diecinueve y es una reconocida supermodelo, vuelve a desaparecer. Sus hermanas empiezan a juntar las pistas que su hermana mayor les fue dejando para resolver dos misterios: uno, dónde está ella, ¿ha sido secuestrada de nuevo?, dos, ¿qué les sucedió aquella noche en Edimburgo cuando estuvieron un mes desaparecidas?
Este libro, mitad fantasía urbana, mitad cuento de hadas oscuro está ambientado en Londres y Edimburgo. Su ambientación es un 10/10, a medida que vas leyendo vas imaginando mentalmente las callejuelas estrechas, las casas antiguas del 1800, la neblina, etc. por donde los personajes se van moviendo. La historia es bastante oscura y retorcida. Tiene algunos trigger warnings como suicidio, violencia explícita, muertes, abuso de drogas y alcohol y ataque sexual, así que vayan con eso en mente si deciden leerlo.
Me sorprendió el misterio, no me esperaba ese desenlace, sin embargo, me vi venir algunos giros y en partes se torna un poco repetitivo y cíclico, como las descripciones o la búsqueda de Grey. En la primera mitad del libro no pasa mucho y se alarga el misterio de la desaparición y las nuevas habilidades. Tiene algunas otras cosillas pero para un juvenil así está bien. El puntaje que le doy es mayormente por la ambientación y por los temas raros relacionados con la muerte.
Si buscan un libro dark academia vibes, con misterio, bastante oscuro y perturbador, que te mantenga enganchada hasta el final y se lea rápido de seguro es este.
Sobre la edición de Gran Travesía: tiene algunos problemas de puntuación, como el de la página 183 donde hay una coma faltante y se distorsiona el contenido de la oración. En otras partes hay comas sobrantes: delante de "y" no corresponde, a no ser que sea un inciso.
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Child death, Death, and Suicide
cocopeters's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Child death, Death, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Animal death, Stalking, Grief, Death of parent, Drug use, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cursing and Vomit
emily_mh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Death, Vomit, and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Stalking, Drug use, Suicide, Child abuse, Cursing, Body horror, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Violence, Child death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Misogyny, Animal death, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Car accident, Excrement, Physical abuse, Bullying, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Self harm, Sexism, Mental illness, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
HP reference. Moderate warnings for loss of a loved one, missing child, drowning, self injury, insects. Minor warnings for stillbirth, internalised misogyny.frankiejo'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
this was an incredible read that I tore through in less than a week. a definite page turner if there ever was one.
to be honest, the beginning left me a little bit worried. while i very much enjoyed the atmosphere and mood that beginning set, i felt at the start that things were a little overdescribed/overwrought/overdramatic, what have you, and that the exposition was a little heavy-handed and unsubtle, interrupting the narrative to explain what the girls were like as young children, or telling us their personalities, or describing the past reactions to their disappearance. i think the book could have benefited from a chapter or two at the beginning, maybe one showing their disappearance and the immediate aftermath, and the second showing their return and subsequent weirdness? the prologue could still be the same, because it's a brilliant hook, so it would be prologue - flashback - flash-forward - continue as written. i think that would have helped with the sometimes heavy handed exposition.
but these issues either dissapear completely or become negligible in the face of this book's fantastic middle and ending—or, like half the beginning, the middle, and the ending. i don't know, structure points like that are blurry as hell.
i honestly could not tell you if the exposition was poor after the beginning—it certainly seemed like less of an issue to me, but it might have just been so good i completely ignored it. the twist (which i wont spoil) is brilliant. it was perfectly executed. just enough clues and foreshadowing were given that i almost guessed it (i guessed something kind of similar, i had one major element wrong) but it wasn't obvious, although in hindsight there are definitely enough hints to guess the twist in its entirety, which isn't a bad thing! in fact i think its a good thing.
another thing i like about the twist is that i think the book would still work if you went in already knowing it. i feel like today we act like knowing a spoiler is the worst thing that could ever happen to a reader or viewer, especially with franchises like Marvel not even telling their actors the context for the scene they're doing to avoid them accidentally spoiler their Sacred Movie, but my honest opinion if that if knowing a spoiler ruins your movie's/book's/tv show's rewatch/reread value. and i just put this book down and i already want to reread it to see all the foreshadowing i missed. like go through with a highlighter and everything, haha. so if you already know the twist, don't worry, there is still plenty of value in the book, youll just have a different kind of fun realising all the foreshadowing i may have missed!
also, the ending leaves plenty of room open for a sequel if Sutherland wants to write one, but it's still a satisfying ending if there is no sequel, which is a skill!
all in all, a brilliantly plotted and executed read, with a slightly rocky beginning more than made up for once the ball gets rolling.
rep; bi main character, lesbian major character, gender-nonconforming major characters, korean major character
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Vomit, Child death, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Blood, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Murder, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Suicide
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Drug use, and Misogyny
moderate nudity, moderate smoking, graphic binge eating, graphic bugs (entomophobia trigger),joyful_bookworm_'s review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Murder, Stalking, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Cursing, and Suicide
mo345's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Vomit, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Grief, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, and Self harm
a_libra_library's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Vomit
kande0321's review against another edition
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, and Gore