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justcallme_blondie's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Some people think BookTok is ruining reading and I disagreed, until this book.
I think book had potential. that's why I gave it two and a half stars instead of one. I actually liked the whole concept of a girl solving a mystery surrounding her family after suffering brain damage and I did enjoy the whole subplot of Gat and Cadence.
Gat and her might actually make a good couple if she wasn't so insufferable (more on this later). Gat actually seemed really hot and like the only one with common sense on the whole island. "He stops in front of me, breathing hard. His hair sticks up, bedhead. The muscles of his abdomen ripple and he seems much more naked than he would in a swimsuit." (see page 93)
This is my personal opinion, but this is a great way to show teenage awkwardness and moments of physical attraction.
What I Didn't Like:
- The purple prose. The purple prose was unnecessary. I'm definitely not saying this book had to be as bland as a box of saltines. Not at all! But the purple prose makes it difficult to distinguish the metaphors from the actuality.
For example:
"Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn on I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed." (see page 5)
This is just a metaphor for her dad's leaving/divorce to be especially hard but it could have been demonstrated in other ways. It was very confusing to me because I literally thought her dad shot her and that was her trauma in the beginning. But, then again, maybe I'm just stupid.
But then it was also difficult because at one point she talks about her wrists bleeding in front of Gat and I couldn't tell if this was a metaphor for her spilling her guts in front of him or what, but she was actually bleeding! Then, it was also confusing because it was never discussed why her wrists are bleeding, so then I thought she was self-harming. but that was never discussed.
I also didn't like the family tree. This is a weird complaint and I'm not talking about the actual drawing but I didn't like how there was practically no character building. There was a set of twins in the story and some cousins and aunts but after two weeks I can barely remember any of the characters except for Cadence, the Grandfather, Mirren (barely. I only remember reading something about her and Mirren forced to beg for tablecloths or something and I can't recall her relation to Cadence), and Gat. I didn't even know that the mother had two sisters except for when she started introducing those quirky fairy tales. I can't even remember who a "Liar" is and who isn't. (which is also confusing because I'm pretty sure only Cadence calls them Liars and it isn't really discussed why...)
Characters. I didn't like any of the characters except Gat. Don't get me wrong - they all had potential.
Cadence - She was too "not like other girls" for my taste. The whole story she says "I'm not like other girls because other girls have blonde hair but I dyed mine black. I'm not like other girls because I have trauma. I'm not like other girls because I'm donating things. etc.," She was basically a self-insert, Y/N-type character for those girlies in 2014 when this was published, who like to hate conforming, cheerleader types. Another thing I didn't like about Cadence was the fact that she was randomly donating things and acted like she was woke for that. She was too pretentious and I understand that the whole point of the story is that they're supposed to be overindulged but it was a bit too on the nose and made for an annoying read.
Grandpa - He was annoying but the best annoying character there. I actually thoroughly enjoyed reading about him because it was such a perfect example of an egotistical spoiled white man.
Gat - This man was another of the handful of likable characters. He can have my soul. He is the perfect pretentious woke teenager. Like I wanted Gat because Cadence surely didn't deserve him.
That's all I can remember of characters.
The plot twist. It could have been done so well but it flopped. It was a stupid and unbelievable idea that a group of kids would willingly agree to commit arson with a visibly mentally unstable teenager. Like and the fact that everyone ignored it? Girlie? What were they thinking?! I almost cried but not because this book was so mind blowing but because I wished it was better.
Something else I didn't like was the weird formatting.
The whole story was like this:
I
am
not like
those weird
o
t
h
e
r
girls. im different.
because i almost died as the flowers wrapped around my neck in peaceful scarf before fashioning themselves into a necklace growing tighter and tighter until the sun scooped me up and dyed my hair blonde again. i am mad. i want black hair because i'm different.
The fairy tales did nothing to add to the story and were weird and confusing. I found myself skipping them sometimes.
Things I Did Like:
Besides Gat, I liked the small chapters. I love a book with shorter chapters because I can get into more I feel like and this is definitely something this book accomplished.
I did like some of the descriptions of Gat and Cadence together and their love.
I did like the idea of the story and felt it could have been done well. The novel was a good size, it dragged on in parts but wasn't unbearably long.
So, read with caution but just know you're going to wish you had thought of this idea before E. Lockhart so you could've written a better novel.
I think book had potential. that's why I gave it two and a half stars instead of one. I actually liked the whole concept of a girl solving a mystery surrounding her family after suffering brain damage and I did enjoy the whole subplot of Gat and Cadence.
Gat and her might actually make a good couple if she wasn't so insufferable (more on this later). Gat actually seemed really hot and like the only one with common sense on the whole island. "He stops in front of me, breathing hard. His hair sticks up, bedhead. The muscles of his abdomen ripple and he seems much more naked than he would in a swimsuit." (see page 93)
This is my personal opinion, but this is a great way to show teenage awkwardness and moments of physical attraction.
What I Didn't Like:
- The purple prose. The purple prose was unnecessary. I'm definitely not saying this book had to be as bland as a box of saltines. Not at all! But the purple prose makes it difficult to distinguish the metaphors from the actuality.
For example:
"Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn on I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed." (see page 5)
This is just a metaphor for her dad's leaving/divorce to be especially hard but it could have been demonstrated in other ways. It was very confusing to me because I literally thought her dad shot her and that was her trauma in the beginning. But, then again, maybe I'm just stupid.
But then it was also difficult because at one point she talks about her wrists bleeding in front of Gat and I couldn't tell if this was a metaphor for her spilling her guts in front of him or what, but she was actually bleeding! Then, it was also confusing because it was never discussed why her wrists are bleeding, so then I thought she was self-harming. but that was never discussed.
I also didn't like the family tree. This is a weird complaint and I'm not talking about the actual drawing but I didn't like how there was practically no character building. There was a set of twins in the story and some cousins and aunts but after two weeks I can barely remember any of the characters except for Cadence, the Grandfather, Mirren (barely. I only remember reading something about her and Mirren forced to beg for tablecloths or something and I can't recall her relation to Cadence), and Gat. I didn't even know that the mother had two sisters except for when she started introducing those quirky fairy tales. I can't even remember who a "Liar" is and who isn't. (which is also confusing because I'm pretty sure only Cadence calls them Liars and it isn't really discussed why...)
Characters. I didn't like any of the characters except Gat. Don't get me wrong - they all had potential.
Cadence - She was too "not like other girls" for my taste. The whole story she says "I'm not like other girls because other girls have blonde hair but I dyed mine black. I'm not like other girls because I have trauma. I'm not like other girls because I'm donating things. etc.," She was basically a self-insert, Y/N-type character for those girlies in 2014 when this was published, who like to hate conforming, cheerleader types. Another thing I didn't like about Cadence was the fact that she was randomly donating things and acted like she was woke for that. She was too pretentious and I understand that the whole point of the story is that they're supposed to be overindulged but it was a bit too on the nose and made for an annoying read.
Grandpa - He was annoying but the best annoying character there. I actually thoroughly enjoyed reading about him because it was such a perfect example of an egotistical spoiled white man.
Gat - This man was another of the handful of likable characters. He can have my soul. He is the perfect pretentious woke teenager. Like I wanted Gat because Cadence surely didn't deserve him.
That's all I can remember of characters.
The plot twist. It could have been done so well but it flopped. It was a stupid and unbelievable idea that a group of kids would willingly agree to commit arson with a visibly mentally unstable teenager. Like and the fact that everyone ignored it? Girlie? What were they thinking?! I almost cried but not because this book was so mind blowing but because I wished it was better.
Something else I didn't like was the weird formatting.
The whole story was like this:
I
am
not like
those weird
o
t
h
e
r
girls. im different.
because i almost died as the flowers wrapped around my neck in peaceful scarf before fashioning themselves into a necklace growing tighter and tighter until the sun scooped me up and dyed my hair blonde again. i am mad. i want black hair because i'm different.
The fairy tales did nothing to add to the story and were weird and confusing. I found myself skipping them sometimes.
Things I Did Like:
Besides Gat, I liked the small chapters. I love a book with shorter chapters because I can get into more I feel like and this is definitely something this book accomplished.
I did like some of the descriptions of Gat and Cadence together and their love.
I did like the idea of the story and felt it could have been done well. The novel was a good size, it dragged on in parts but wasn't unbearably long.
So, read with caution but just know you're going to wish you had thought of this idea before E. Lockhart so you could've written a better novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Death, and Self harm
serenspace's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Self harm
amandaelle's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, and Toxic relationship
iamaprettyflower's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was a solid 2 up until the very end. The twist completely surprised me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
cloud_doggos's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.75
I’d heard a lot about this book a few years ago and picked it up. I really enjoyed reading it. The endearing characters with flaws and the microcosm of The Sinclairs private island are a bittersweet escape to read through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Self harm
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
_angelbxby8's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Xenophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
renegadereads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death
Moderate: Self harm and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
nagaakil's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Dementia, Racism, and Self harm