Reviews - My Throat an Open Grave

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781 reviews for:

My Throat an Open Grave

Tori Bovalino

3.81 AVERAGE

zickcantkill's review against another edition

4.0

dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

krimsonraine's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

loxilight's review against another edition

3.0

This is a difficult one for me to review because I feel like this is a good book but not necessarily my thing.

Bovalino does some great things here: Leah is a very believable heroine, the social commentary of the book is interesting and the eerie and melancholic tones through the book make for a dreamlike folktale quality.
However, for me this book just took a looooong time to get going and as much as I enjoyed the tone of the book the worldbuilding was somewhat lack lustre and at times confusing. I was left very much wanting more from the romance in this book but I have been reading a lot of romantasy lately which could've influenced my expectations. Lastly I would like to point out this book is definitely not giving labyrinth vibes beyond the initial childnapping!
Overall a good spooky autumn read but it wouldn't be my go to on recommendations

akp0311's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

nmkern88's review against another edition

4.0

I understand why this book is called a horror, it covers a lot of dark topics, but I wish it had leaned more into the creepy parts. I don't think I can fault it, because it's YA and I usually read adult, but the middle section of the book feels a lot more like a cute YA fantasy than a folk horror. The writing was enjoyable and I liked the characters. The romance was sweet and served the themes really well. The plot gets a little lost sometimes, there's very little suspense, and everything was predictable. Focusing a little more on the bargain plot line or the murder mystery plot line could've helped with the saggy middle.

Where this book truly shines is the themes. I think the themes this book discusses are so important and the commentary is really well done. This is a great representation of the impact that purity culture, religious trauma, and sexism can have on young women.

Spoilers below!

The plot twist at the end brought me to tears. I appreciate the raw representation of teenage pregnancy and forced birth. This book isn't shy about the point it makes. The body horror, the way teen girls disproportionately take blame over teen boys, the severity of the impact on the mother's mental health, the way society seeks to punish and shame when we should be offering support. This book made me angry and disgusted and I think everyone should read it.