Scan barcode
doctordonut's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
I didn’t like this book at the beginning because of how similar the writing style is to the Shatter Me series, but after getting about halfway through, I started to notice strange things that were pointed out and inconsistencies with things that were said in the past pages. I wasn’t expecting what happened at the end and ended up crying for at least twenty minutes straight when I got there. Maybe it’s because I found similarities between the Liars and a few characters I really liked in a video game (Man of Medan), but the end was unexpected and I paused a few times to calm down before deciding to power through and live with the tears. Overall, it’s an alright read, but I think that I’ll enjoy it more on a reread since I understand the context of certain things now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism
shaleen64's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Without the final chapter I would rate this book a 2 star. However, the ending delivers an unexpected plot twist and does tie the rest of the plot line together well. However, there are many smaller tropes throughout the book that are underdeveloped and important issues brushed over. It’s not a book I would recommend but at least it’s only short!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Dementia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism
beccabae's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Racism
Minor: Death
daley_mckdonald's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal death and Gun violence
inkysplodge's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Drug use, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Racism, Sexual content, and Cursing
gemjar321's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Death
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Abandonment
xabbeylongx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Spoilers Ahead:
This book has been raved about all over TikTok, and I finally found it in a charity shop and wanted to see if it lived up to its name! Honestly, it was a pretty decent book, but it wasn’t anything special.
We follow Cadence as she makes her way through the summer. Beforehand, she had a lot of good memories of her and her three other friends. They called themselves the Liars, Cadence, Gat, Mirren and Johnny. They would spend every summer together. Cadence had a very big crush on Gat, and it was difficult to see if he felt the same way sometimes, but she loved him. After an incident where she loses her memory, she goes back for the summer.
All of the Liars are pulling away from her, and there seems to be an awful lot of arguing in their family, and lots of tears. Cadence feels so alone, and weird with her memories. She starts giving away stuff, and acting weirdly, as her memories start to return. It’s only then that she finds out that all of her friends died in the incident.
They had decided to start a fire, as every person in the family was fighting over who would get what when their dad died, and they just wanted it to be peaceful again. So, they set fire to the house, thinking it would solve all of their problems…
It didn’t.
Mirren, Johnny and Gat all died, and it took her memories coming back for her to know. Once she finds out, after being told by them (their ghosts were trying to make sure she was okay) she says goodbye to them, as they had hung on for too long anyway. They waded into the sea and Cadence said a final goodbye to them. She stopped giving everything away - she was doing it out of guilt - and she decided to do better for her friends, who didn’t get to do everything that they wanted to do.
I thought the whole concept was very cool. I knew that somewhere towards the ending there would be a plot twist, and I was expecting it to be that she was dead, not that the others were all dead. I think it’s so sad, watching her gain back her memories, only to realise that she caused all the deaths. Especially the dogs, that was gut-wrenching. And finding out she’s been talking to them all this time? Just stab me in the eye, it will hurt less. I wasn’t overly thrilled by the book. I thought the style was very cool, and it’s a very simple book to read, but it’s not all that bad. A little overhyped, I must say, but it’s not a bad book. I think the meaning is very cool, the fact that actions have consequences, some of them life-altering, and sometimes just a simple ‘sorry’ won’t cut it. I also like how Cadence was learning of her memories as we were, I thought that was a very cool technique. I think the book is cleverly written, but just not as thrilling as I thought it would be. Still worth the read, though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Self harm, Death, Animal death, Drug use, Child death, and Murder
alixsbooktherapy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.5
I gasped when cadence talked about her accident it broke my heart
I loved how descriptive the author was for the first few chapters
"I wanted to go back with a book" me too cadence
Gat flirting was so funny really brought some brightness to the awkwardness
"The universe was good because he was in it"
My heart hurt for cadence after she found out gat kept something from her
"The universe is seeming really huge right now I need something to hold onto" gat said
"I'm here"
THE KISS YES!! IM SO HAPPY
Granny tipper😭
Mummy should of been nicer and let the kids grieve
How I hated mummy she was a drunk and loved to manipulate her kids I definitely feel this book was overhyped I hope book 2 redeems my hope for this
I feel this book would of been 10x better if it was longer and was more descriptive other then that the end pulled it to together for me
I hated the family and how mommy and granddad were such assholes to the kids and wanted to spilt gat and cadence up just because he's not white like take your racist bullshit elsewhere
We finally learn that Cady didn't hit her head on a swimming injury and it was a fire injury instead.
"I have lost you, gat because of how desperately,desperately I fell in love"
'It's good to be loved even though it will not last"
"Be a little kinder"
"Shut up I'm 10 already"
I loved how descriptive the author was for the first few chapters
"I wanted to go back with a book" me too cadence
Gat flirting was so funny really brought some brightness to the awkwardness
"The universe was good because he was in it"
My heart hurt for cadence after she found out gat kept something from her
"The universe is seeming really huge right now I need something to hold onto" gat said
"I'm here"
THE KISS YES!! IM SO HAPPY
Granny tipper😭
Mummy should of been nicer and let the kids grieve
How I hated mummy she was a drunk and loved to manipulate her kids I definitely feel this book was overhyped I hope book 2 redeems my hope for this
I feel this book would of been 10x better if it was longer and was more descriptive other then that the end pulled it to together for me
I hated the family and how mommy and granddad were such assholes to the kids and wanted to spilt gat and cadence up just because he's not white like take your racist bullshit elsewhere
We finally learn that Cady didn't hit her head on a swimming injury and it was a fire injury instead.
"I have lost you, gat because of how desperately,desperately I fell in love"
'It's good to be loved even though it will not last"
"Be a little kinder"
"Shut up I'm 10 already"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Ableism, Violence, Rape, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Suicide, Addiction, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual content, Self harm, and Pregnancy
crieraylas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Grief, Racism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Murder
Minor: Misogyny, Blood, Infidelity, and Rape
becks444's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Drug use
Moderate: Racism