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sugarlife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical content, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Bullying, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Death, and Vomit
ariana3's review against another edition
- 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
Plot summary:
Graphic: Medical content, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Infertility
Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Grief, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Bullying, and Death
Minor: Abandonment, Self harm, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Alcohol
spaghettireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Medical content, Infidelity, Infertility, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Cursing, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
sincerely_inayah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I ate this up. Would read again, would read another book by this author.
Graphic: Infertility, Pregnancy, Blood, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Vomit and Mental illness
kimveach's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, Classism, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Grief, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Ableism, Cursing, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol
bad_bookworm_h's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Infertility
Moderate: Child abuse and Medical trauma
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
marpaige's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Vomit, Child death, Infidelity, Medical content, Infertility, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
thespinystacks's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Miscarriage, Child death, and Vomit
Moderate: Death, Child abuse, Grief, Medical content, Infertility, Medical trauma, and Infidelity
thatswhatshanread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
WOW!!! An incredibly fascinating second novel from Ashley Audrain. I was immediately invested in the deep tangle of suburban domesticity between the three families at the helm of this story, and even the fourth family’s insights sprinkled throughout. Audrain commands your attention with every page, every insane detail that feels hot in your hands, like juicy but disturbing neighborhood gossip you’re only so lucky to be privy too. Like you are one of the periphery moms, whispering about only the surface of the twisted, mangled iceberg.
This is as much a novel about marriages and parent-child relationships under pressure as it is a novel of suspense. Which is to say, this isn’t exactly a thriller, but very much so an intense domestic drama that leaves you clutching at your pearls, as they say, as the characters’ lives unravel. A child in a coma, due to mysterious circumstances. His parents, his neighbors, none of them quite who they seem. Rumors everywhere. Lies as abundant as a cup full of sugar.
I throughly enjoyed this one. I loved the intensity, the explicitness, the shock, every character interwoven into another in the most unexpected ways. This is a deliciously spiraling novel that makes you think a whole lot about the lives of those acquaintances around you that may be entirely different from what you only see from the end of the driveway. Or overheard from an open window…
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Blood, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Alcohol, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts
kaseymkelley's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Mental illness
Minor: Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Suicide