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yessenyan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Minor: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Child death, and Death
leexpenandpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Struggling with all-consuming rage, Jane North-Robinson feels chilled by more than just the autumn air when she and her mother move to her mother's childhood home, where Jane must dig up her mother's secrets to understand what is happening.
πππΉππͺ¦π»π©βπ§ππ
ππ» RECOMMENDATION:
π READ IF you've got nothing else, if it works for a reading challenge, etc.
π¬ FAVORITE QUOTES:
β’ Pg. 201
do books taste like roses?
A flash of the earth with everything destroyed except this house, the last building standing, and Jane within it, trapped inside its walls, not really caring anymore whether she made it out or not.
She imagined the words dissolving off the paper and sinking into her bloodstream. She imagined her body filled with words. Made up of them. Words instead of blood, words instead of organs.
π FORMAT:
π
π COMMENTS:
β’ The main characters are complex and flawed. Jane's friends are heartwarming and supportive.
β’ Jane is frustrating slow to figure out what happened, leaping to illogical conclusions for the sake of continuing the mystery.
β’ I mostly agree with the Booklist quote on the back, which reads, "Leno blends Agatha Christie and Shirley Jackson for a narrative that ranges from unsettling to genuinely terrifying." (I did not find the narrative terrifying but otherwise agree.)
β’ The book starts a little too slow, and it ends a little too quickly, but the middle is well-paced.
β’ Race is poorly represented. Some of the characters seem like they were originally intended to be POCs but were changed to white or the author used POC aesthetics. The black characters are black only in description of skin tone.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Bullying, Murder, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Addiction, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Pregnancy, Animal death, Violence, Self harm, and Cursing
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Blood, and Classism
quercine'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
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Body horror, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Vomit, and Violence
Minor: Confinement
khakipantsofsex's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Animal death and Self harm
anna_elizabeth's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Death of parent and Child death
Moderate: Eating disorder
allisonsmith120's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Eating disorder and Grief
kris386's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Pregnancy and Suicide
achay91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Suicide
issiwerro's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, and Eating disorder
Minor: Suicide, Self harm, Death of parent, and Child death
lish_e'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
3.0
βAnd when she was good,
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid.β
Janeβs habit of eating pages was interesting, and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.
But it had some elements that are often used (girl moves to a different town, into an old house that has a dark history everybody knows but no one talks about) and so the plot twist wasnβt a surprise to me. Still, it was a pleasant read and the build-up to the climax was good.
Graphic: Grief, Eating disorder, Bullying, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Animal cruelty and Suicide