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thecrimsoncorsair'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
4.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Bullying, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Dementia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Body shaming, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Classism, Cursing, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Drug use, Racism, War, Alcohol, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Cancer
buck50's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
BUT: there’s an entire hackneyed subplot about a pastor and his family, and a violent militia and its leader and its just… awful. The story grinds to a halt every time Matthew and Ozark are the subject. They really don’t add anything and Mathew the character is a cliche, his story arc is a cliche and he’s just 100% unlikeable. Ozark is supposedly a racist Hoosier drug dealer but clearly the author has never been to Indiana. His dialogue is also cliche, his violence utterly gratuitous- do we really need
The ending is… meh. Because it’s been over complicated with a huge racist militia subplot the ending is just overly complicated and over wrought.
We suddenly learn things at the very end of the book that were mentioned in passing very early in the book, and we are meant to feel like this is exposition that changes everything.
A good editor could have cut this in half and turned it into one really good medical horror story and one cliche preacher and evil story. But instead what you get is an imitation of Steven king without the charm.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Body horror, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, War, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Kidnapping