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adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this. The whole book revolved around a mystery which built up to a plot twist that explains the entire story. Out of all possible predictions I would have made, I did not expect that. It was so confusing during the whole story, but when you find out the truth, everything falls into place and everything makes so much sense. The writing was very disorienting with line breaks and fractured sentences but I loved how it was a metaphor for the confusion and disorientation that Cady was feeling with her fractured memory. It was a bit hard to read at times, but the stylistic choice was genius. The start began very slow and it was hard to get into, but after the accident it was so intriguing. The plot itself focused on the privileged, white family who vacation on an island in Summer. It focuses on their wealth and power, and their obsession with it. They were very pretentious and manipulative family. They were also racist against Gat and other people who weren’t white. This made me dislike the characters as people, but was interesting as characters as they were complex. I also loved the ending with the plot twist revealed. It could have been better as it was slightly ambiguous. It was still confusing at the end and not much was explained, but I still liked it. I’m also confused why they were called ‘liars’ when they hardly ever lied. Overall, I highly recommend as a mysterious, dark, and unexpected novel.
“Always do what you’re afraid to do”
“Be a little kinder than you have to”
“Do not accept an evil you can change”
“Always do what you’re afraid to do”
“Be a little kinder than you have to”
“Do not accept an evil you can change”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Dementia, Grief
Minor: Addiction, Racism
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Racism
Minor: Dementia, Grief
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not see the ending coming and its heartbreaking. What a sad, beautiful book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Dementia
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death, Racism, Grief, Alcohol
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The plot twist saved this book for me, this book was a solid 3 stars but the end definitely bumped it up. I just found the writing style so odd because even though I was reading from Cadence’s POV, I just felt oddly detached from the characters and the story (which in hindsight I realise is probably intentional, to mirror how Cady feels detached from everyone else) but it just made the ending less impactful because I wasn’t attached to the characters.
Saying that, I didn’t like it as much as everyone else did but I did like it and I’m glad I read it. If I would have read this when I was in high school, I think I would have loved it.
Saying that, I didn’t like it as much as everyone else did but I did like it and I’m glad I read it. If I would have read this when I was in high school, I think I would have loved it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Animal death, Racism, Dementia, Grief
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Grief
Minor: Dementia
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The twist ending felt like a cop out for the themes of what the book was trying to say. Generic in not a good way. I don’t really get the hype, it’s like Succession for young teenagers without the witty humour or truly complex characters. Some of the chapters felt like link draft chapters from the original story outline trying to move the plot along in a clunky manner
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism, Dementia
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Dementia
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Racism, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Murder
Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death, Dementia, Alcohol