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sfbookgirl'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
2.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Abortion
Minor: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
craftyanty's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
From beginning to end, my heart ached for Duchess and Robin. They go through so much; I even found myself shouting "NOOOOO!" at one point. Through it all, Duchess cares for Robin with her entire being.
This is an emotionally heavy book. It's a bit slow-moving but, overall, a great book.
It comes equipped with old-timey feel, an enormous amount of trauma, and a whole bunch of curse words. It won't be for everyone, but I really liked it.
Moderate: Death of parent
shanekate's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Blood, and Trafficking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Car accident, and Abortion
Not recommended to people who went through trauma related to foster care. Sexual violence is referenced several times but does not occur.elisalasater's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
kdsmoove's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Violence, and Death of parent
mamaofperfectpayton's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
jess_d84's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Terminal illness
kelly_e'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
3.25
Author: Chris Whitaker
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: January 1 2021
T H R E E • W O R D S
Devastating • Gritty • Compulsive
📖 S Y N O P S I S
After being convicted in a fatal hit-and-run, which killed the sister of his then girlfriend Starr Radley, Vincent King has spent the past 30 years in prison. He is now being released and returning home to his small California town. Walk, now the town's sheriff, was responsible for Vincent's conviction, yet promised him he'd look out for Star while he was in prison. However, Star's life is a mess. Her two children, Duchess and Robin, are forced to grow up all too quickly. An act of revenge will change all of their lives forever. We Begin at the End explores themes of love, loss, sacrifice and of course, family.
💭 T H O U G H T S
When I saw the absolutely stunning cover of this book, I instantly added it to my TBR. It started out quite slow, and I considered DNFing around the 30% mark. However, I persisted, deciding to seek out the audio in order to tandem read, which ended up helping some. I cannot say I loved or hated this book.
Let me start out by saying the writing is absolutely beautiful! The descriptive scenery felt in line with the cover, and the author uses his way with words in a way that works. The plot didn't instantly suck me in, and I didn't feel a strong connection to the characters and their stories. Oddly enough, Duchess is such a fierce, brave, and vulnerable character I couldn't help to root for, and yet I am not sure I will remember her. Her relationship with, her love for, and her protective nature of her younger brother is my favourite thing about this book. In fact, it is what kept me reading. While Duchess and Walk are great characters, there was definitely something missing for me with the rest of the cast. The themes of family - both born and chosen family - and the resilient nature of the human spirit ended up making this book worth reading, despite it not completely working for me.
We Begin at the End is a unique and powerful story, however, taken as a whole I was left underwhelmed. It felt like a modern Western, which would be one of the reason it didn't feel like the right fit for me.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Western fans
• lovers of small town crime fiction
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"None of us are any one thing. We’re just a collection of the best and worst things we’ve done."
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Cursing
Minor: Car accident and Abortion
quirkygirlreads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Like the story is beautiful and the type of story you want to read, but yet there is something missing?
The Good: The plot of We Begin at the End, was interesting, the mystery was engaging. It was like a deviation from the normal tropes you see in mystery/thrillers, but it wasn't so different that you felt lost.
Someone mentioned a comparison between this novel and Where The Crawdads Sing - I think that is a perfect comparison. Sure, this is a mystery... but there is also a huge emphasis on coming of age and heartbreak and friendship. At times I forgot I was even reading a mystery story, and felt more like I was reading a historical fiction.
The Bad: oh boy... please don't hate me. The characters ages were SO UNBELIEVABLE! Not only did Duchess seem FAR too young for the deep philosophical quotes she was speaking, but you're telling me that Vincent, Walk and Star are in their FORTIES! No way. Also, the names in this book were strange, that is all.
I found Duchess rather annoying, to be perfectly honest. Frankly, her repeating "I'm an outlaw" constantly was the only part of her story that felt like it was told from a 13 year old perspective.
Lastly, normally I love when the title of a book is hidden within its text. Almost like the author is leaving a breadcrumb that pulls it all together. But not only did this novel never really explain what "we begin at the end" meant, it was repeated over and over as an attempt to sound.... deep?
The Consensis: We Begin at the End feels like the last draft of a novel before it gets sent to print. There were just a few tweaks that could have been made to round this read up to 5 stars, but instead it just fell short...
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Rape, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
danidamico's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
El relato está bien construido, el misterio bien desarrollado, la prosa me pareció buena, aunque un poco melodramática (algo normal en este género). No tengo nada negativo para decir sobre este libro en cuanto a los aspectos técnicos, a veces simplemente sucede que una obra nos conmueve más o nos conmueve menos, te impacta o no te impacta. A la hora de leer textos para la facultad intento ser racional, analizar los detalles, pero como lectora en mi tiempo libre me dejo llevar muchísimo por lo emocional y lo instintivo. Me gustó esta novela. Listo. Eso es todo lo que puedo decir. Está bien hecha y es recomendable para gente que disfrute del género.
A medida que iba leyendo, me imaginaba una adaptación cinematográfica dirigida por Sean Penn o Clint Eastwood porque la novela me dio muchas vibes de historia clásica norteamericana de drama Hollywoodense. De hecho, me sorprendió mucho descubrir que el autor es británico.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Gun violence, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder