Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Black Cake

3.5 ⭐️

I wanted to love this book so much more than I did. I loved the beginning and Covey’s story at the beginning. I felt like there were too many perspectives and stories wound into one that I wasn’t able to get the depth that I wanted out of the characters. They all fell a bit flat even though they had so much potential. I wanted to feel the pain in their stories and not just be told it. Also, I feel like it could have been edited a bit more to cut down the number of big issues the book covered. If there had been a more narrow focus, there could have been more depth. Loved the idea of the story so much. Just left wanting more.

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ohheyash's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I enjoyed reading Black Cake. I was a mystery, with love, and hardships. I was also glad that it ended with all my questions answered. If you’re looking for an engaging story; especially if you’re in a reading slump, I’d recommend reading this.

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bigolscrewup's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

untold stories shape people's lives both when they are withheld & when they are revealed

Everything is connected to everything else, if you only go far enough back in time

3.75/5⭐

I don't know if this is because I'm coming off of reading a lot of action/crime books, I just couldn't understand the need for secrecy. Other than that, I absolutely loved the book. I didn't like the prose at certain parts of the book but it didn't ruin the story in anyway for me. So many social and political issues are discussed in this book, but I would have loved those discussions in the book more if the author had named them explicitly rather than trying to convey something without actually naming it, which just leaves a bad taste for me, although, again it could be a "me" thing and it's not like other readers would feel how I felt when reading those parts of the story.

Even though it's labelled as a mystery with a mention of "murder" in the blurb, I just couldn't care much about it, reading this book, I felt like it was inconsequential, because so much had happened to Eleanor in the last five decades, that I just felt like she and everyone else are making a big deal out of it ? Even though I had that feeling, I still enjoyed this book and it made me smile and cry in various moments. Hoping to catch the TV show that was adapted from this book next

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