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danicampbell0506'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Child abuse, Ableism, Child death, and Violence
nyoomie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Pedophilia, Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Self harm
racheldkidder'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
2.0
In addition to the overzealous attempt at a traumatic backstory, I found the main character, Sadie, to be just as artificial. I think now is a good time to mention that I have never personally been in any situation akin to what she experienced in this book, so take what I am saying with a grain of salt. However, Saide seemed like a middle-aged man's interpretation of an antisocial teenage girl. While it would be entirely appropriate and expected for her to be detached and somber, she seemed comically moody and jaded. To me, she came across as a caricature of what she should have been. She was insufferable and I was counting the pages until I didn't have to listen to her anymore.
Despite these repulsive aspects of the book, there were some ideas I did appreciate. In the synopsis of the book which The StoryGraph has provided, they explain that this book alternates chapters between Sadie's point of view and the podcaster's. I always enjoy it when authors experiment with the format of a "traditional" book to bring something new to the table and I thought the podcast transcripts were creative enough to be refreshing while also being orthodox enough to not be jarring. This brings me to the second thing about this book I enjoyed. I listened to portions of this book as an audiobook as well as read it in a physical form. The podcast chapters were well executed on the audiobook and if I wasn't aware I was listening to a book, I could have thought it truly was a podcast. I would highly recommend both reading physically and listening to the podcast chapters (although that is not necessary for the Saide chapters). Unfortunately, that is where my praise ends.
Overall, the idea for this book was commendable, but the execution was not. I personally am a big fan of psychological thrillers as well as murder mystery books, but this book was not thrilling enough to be a thriller nor mysterious enough to be a mystery. It simply fell short in every category.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Ableism, Murder, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Addiction
Minor: Self harm
thehappylittleelf'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Rape, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Pedophilia
Minor: Car accident
ivybean's review against another edition
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
booktalkswithregina's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Abandonment and Ableism
Moderate: Child abuse
arikaking'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Child death
Moderate: Ableism and Murder
mmirjamm'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
Minor: Ableism and Violence
janneke2302's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Car accident
lisa_m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.0
This book was quite a ride and also quite out of my comfortzone. That is also the reason why you shouldn't let my review of only 3⭐ make you not want to read the book.
It is incredibly written and I can absolutely appreciate it for what it is. The representation of stuttering (which I have never ever read in a book before!) was something you have to get used to but its definitely worth it.
What made it hard for me to get through was mainly the themes of the book. I have put the Trigger Warnings on top and as you can see there's a lot of them. All of those topics are definitely issues that have to be adressed. I read the book knowing it was going to be hard to get through but I did it and I'm glad I did. The book never made me feel like it was exploiting Sadies experiences and memories. She had flashbacks and she described what she experienced but it was never in extreme detail.
I'm not a fan of horror/gore/thrillers and the book isn't that at all. It's a YA-contemporary mystery with very heavy topics. If you feel like you are able to read it, I would definitely recommend it. It made me think a lot for sure.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence