Scan barcode
mininea's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
Holy shit. It just pulls you in further and further and then it’s done and you don’t know what to do with your life. Haven’t read another book like it and I am so happy that this was the book I got this month in my book of the month club cause I would have never found it otherwise.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault
silversarahreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
cko's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood
Minor: Suicide and Self harm
tashadandelion's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm having a very "what did I just read?" reaction to this novel. Not because different formats are used to tell the story (interview transcriptions, screenplays, emails, 2nd person present tense narration mixed with straight-forward limited first person past tense), but because I couldn't feel the disparate plot lines coming together until the very end, and at that point I wasn't sure if it worked for me. I'm grateful the author gives us answers, but I didn't come away as satisfied as I expected to feel after getting those answers. The pages turn quickly -- the writing is clean and engaging -- so I did get enjoyment from my time spent with this book. I just feel my jury went out to deliberate over the effectiveness of its structure and never came back. Though Alice's story of a high school incident gone terribly wrong is supposed to be the heart of the story, I felt like Nick's alcoholic spiral was far more compelling in the end, because his character was somehow more immediate in its suffering. As for the horror elements, I was left scratching my head over Nick's encounter with the hooded men at the cabin (was that real? hallucination?) but was blown away by the horror of what Q had put Alice through and was hoping to follow up on through Nick's access to her. SHUDDER!! I also particularly enjoyed Nick's (but really Alice's imagination's) impulsive solution to that problem. It had a "The Lovely Bones meets brutal NYC" feel to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
More...