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crownoflaurel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Medical content, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Gaslighting
mfrank's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Minor: Blood, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
milliemudd's review
3.25
Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Violence, Death, Gore, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Physical abuse
kmtd's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence
moot's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Violence
booksthatburn's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Finishing this book feels like waking up from a dream, I read it in sections, and loved every minute of it but now I'm struggling to say all the wonderful things it led me through. Every time I finished another section I was torn between a desperate desire to know what happened next, and the existential terror of a precious resource dwindling; not wanting this book to ever end. All the characters are complex and vivid; the villains are horrendously dark and terribly evil but also completely understandable, with simple motivations pulling them along twisted paths full of malice, greed, and efficient brutality. Roger and Dodger (named by people who should never be around children) begin as lonely child geniuses and become so much more.
It's a story of time loops, paradoxes, trying over and over to get everything just right. I love time loop stories, but this one stands out because it's unafraid to let things go. It's surprisingly linear, reserving temporal mischief for where it's most needed, where change will be poignant and weighty. We hear whispers, catch glimpses of how-it-might-have-been-but-is-not. This book is rich with metaphors, practically dripping with them when Roger is involved. Dodger's sections are more brusque, creating a distinct feel when the perspective switches between them. I won't spoil the other perspectives we get, but the narrators have enough presence to affect the tone of their various sections and it works really well (both in each section and coming together to create the narrative).
Book CWs for bullying, parental gaslighting and emotional abuse, murder, major character death, arson, graphic depiction of suicide attempt.
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Death, Bullying, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Ableism, Torture, and Child death
CW for bullying, parental gaslighting and emotional abuse, murder, major character death, arson, graphic depiction of suicide attempt, parental death.