evieheartsbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
elisabeth_li's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Blood, Death, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug use, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, and Cursing
leanniefae's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
This was an incredible book. I got a physical arc from yallfest and buddy read it with my coworker. We both read it in about 2 days. I legit stayed up until 5am to finish this book because I HAD to know how it ended. And oh that ending! What a wild ride! I suggest you don't even read the blurb; go in as blind as you can because it's going to grab you from page 1.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, Child death, Violence, Grief, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Physical abuse
bellebookcorner's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
Wow! What an entertaining fast-paced mystery thriller!
I’ve been craving to read a high suspense thriller and this one definitely deliver!
Interesting plot with multiple POVs, great writing style, filled with secrets and unexpected twists will definitely keep you on your toes and guessing throughout the story.
This story does a lot of showing with the different formats like the diary entry, Youtube vlogs transcripts and blog post in some chapters. It's a nice touch and gives the readers a different experience.
However, some of the chapters also felt a bit too long nonetheless I still enjoy the whole plot.
The last few chapters are intense and I feel satisfied with how it ended for all the characters. I felt relieved and yet sad at the same time but it was a fitting end.
Overall, this is a fantastic page-turner. Highly recommended for those who loves to read mystery thriller!
I’m really looking forward to read more books from this author in the future!
Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tour, Netgalley, author and pubsliher for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
dbguide2's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Going Dark is certainly more than what it appears to be on the surface. At first it speaks of a simple relationship between two people who seem to lead simple lives – and dating each other in what also seems to be a simple act. What you get from their relationship looks easy and happy, or so it seems. And I really enjoyed that – seeing how it changes from looking like an easy relationship to something much more.
I’ll be honest, I was not that interested in Amelia from the beginning. I didn’t like how she was written or how she acted. But then as the story progressed more and more things started to come out about her and she became more likeable. But only a bit because I still found her actions and the path she took not the best one for her, Did I understand why? Yes. Did I like any of it? Not so much. Of course I’m not going to sit here and say “here’s what I’d do differently” because I haven’t lived her life, I haven’t gone through what she’s gone through. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.
I think that’s why I rated it 4 and not 5 stars – because I wasn’t a fan of her actions and the reasons behind them. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book. I don’t know if my rating would change if either her actions were different or if I could understand them more.
The characters were interesting to get to know and I liked everything we learnt about them. I am most certainly not interested in influencers – even if they push the narrative that they’re down-to-earth and don’t put on a farce for the camera. For me when you start to gain a large following you’re inevitably going to make the decision to pull back a bit – show less of your life, keep some activities private because they mean a lot to you. You might even take a few classes or courses surrounding anything social media marketing. So all of Amelia’s pushing to show that’s super down-to-earth and doesn’t really care about her following – I didn’t buy it at all, any of her personality. Maybe de la Cruz purposefully wrote her that way, maybe it was just my personal feelings.
Josh was an interesting case as I originally did like him. That also changed as the book carried on. I actually thought I as I liked him less I would like Amelia more – but that didn’t happen, which was interesting to me. I can’t say much without spoiling the book but I liked seeing how he dealt with Amelia going missing and everything that came from that.
We get some flashbacks of another girl who went missing two years ago who never received the attention that Amelia Ashley received. Of course a good reason (for that) is because Amelia is very famous and has other famous connections. I found it interesting the connection the one character (Harper Delgado – whom I really liked and wanted to know more of) made between the two. Both pretty girls, both this and that, but the previous girl had nothing done for her the way Amelia had. It really shows the truth about any missing case, really. That some missing people aren’t deemed as important as others for various reasons – popularity, money, mental state, even race as a reason as to why they are missing – even though the ‘reason’ is lack of evidence.
I definitely want to revisit the book now having read everything so I can see if there are any puzzle pieces to be found before the big reveal. Probably will wait to see if it’ll get an audiobook and reread it that way. I have read a mixed media book as an audiobook before (These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall) so I know that I’ll like another one.
I love mixed media in a book and while I liked what we got I also would have been very happy with even more. Amelia Ashley is an influencer and I felt like there should’ve have been more focus on her posts and her journey as an influencer. Especially as we got more into the story, I would’ve loved to have seen more time dedicated to that.
I’ll be honest, I was not that interested in Amelia from the beginning. I didn’t like how she was written or how she acted. But then as the story progressed more and more things started to come out about her and she became more likeable. But only a bit because I still found her actions and the path she took not the best one for her, Did I understand why? Yes. Did I like any of it? Not so much. Of course I’m not going to sit here and say “here’s what I’d do differently” because I haven’t lived her life, I haven’t gone through what she’s gone through. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.
I think that’s why I rated it 4 and not 5 stars – because I wasn’t a fan of her actions and the reasons behind them. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book. I don’t know if my rating would change if either her actions were different or if I could understand them more.
The characters were interesting to get to know and I liked everything we learnt about them. I am most certainly not interested in influencers – even if they push the narrative that they’re down-to-earth and don’t put on a farce for the camera. For me when you start to gain a large following you’re inevitably going to make the decision to pull back a bit – show less of your life, keep some activities private because they mean a lot to you. You might even take a few classes or courses surrounding anything social media marketing. So all of Amelia’s pushing to show that’s super down-to-earth and doesn’t really care about her following – I didn’t buy it at all, any of her personality. Maybe de la Cruz purposefully wrote her that way, maybe it was just my personal feelings.
Josh was an interesting case as I originally did like him. That also changed as the book carried on. I actually thought I as I liked him less I would like Amelia more – but that didn’t happen, which was interesting to me. I can’t say much without spoiling the book but I liked seeing how he dealt with Amelia going missing and everything that came from that.
We get some flashbacks of another girl who went missing two years ago who never received the attention that Amelia Ashley received. Of course a good reason (for that) is because Amelia is very famous and has other famous connections. I found it interesting the connection the one character (Harper Delgado – whom I really liked and wanted to know more of) made between the two. Both pretty girls, both this and that, but the previous girl had nothing done for her the way Amelia had. It really shows the truth about any missing case, really. That some missing people aren’t deemed as important as others for various reasons – popularity, money, mental state, even race as a reason as to why they are missing – even though the ‘reason’ is lack of evidence.
I definitely want to revisit the book now having read everything so I can see if there are any puzzle pieces to be found before the big reveal. Probably will wait to see if it’ll get an audiobook and reread it that way. I have read a mixed media book as an audiobook before (These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall) so I know that I’ll like another one.
I love mixed media in a book and while I liked what we got I also would have been very happy with even more. Amelia Ashley is an influencer and I felt like there should’ve have been more focus on her posts and her journey as an influencer. Especially as we got more into the story, I would’ve loved to have seen more time dedicated to that.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence and Death
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