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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),ecn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Stalking, Gore, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Bullying, Body horror, Abandonment, Vomit, Suicide, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Child death, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault and Murder
lindseygetsliterary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Vomit, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Death of parent, Suicide, Kidnapping, Sexism, Rape, and Child death
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, and Stalking
grace05's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Blood, Child death, Murder, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Medical content
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
shelfofunread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Gore, Death, Eating disorder, Violence, Medical content, and Child death
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
thelongautumn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Death, Child death, Suicide, Murder, Kidnapping, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Bullying
fayfaybleugh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
There were some unresolved things- mostly if the changelings are “wearing” the skin of those that were killed, how was Iris able to find the bodies of the girls? Is there a reason being a changeling gives them such weird compulsion/intoxication powers? Agnes’ story felt both unexplained and unnecessary to the plot- had great potential to be a bigger character that I found lacking. Tyler Yang was also an enjoyable character with an interesting &relevant backstory, but his interaction with Iris made me uncomfortable (she is… 17). It felt like it would have been appropriate if the characters were slightly older with Iris in college instead of high school. Lastly, I know authors can’t really control the book cover (which is BEAUTIFUL) but it super bugged me that the character is brunette w/brown eyes and soft features- the opposite of how the hollow sisters are described. (Unless it isn’t one of them?)
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Alcoholism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Violence
sarah984's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
There's also a really stupid scene involving a character shooting a man with a shotgun while he's holding two women and somehow both women are unharmed.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Vomit, Body horror, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, and Misogyny
Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Alcohol, Bullying, and Emotional abuse