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bessadams'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Outing, Abortion, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Drug abuse
Minor: Death of parent and Vomit
kt2e56's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Again, Ware is good at setting up a plot but she gets so wrapped up in making sure there are twists and turns that her details don’t always pan out and her characters don’t seem believable or worse, she makes up new traits or details that she mushes in last minute to fill in the holes but make zero sense with the characters we’re trying to get to know and invest ourselves in.
Speaking of the characters, all of them (sans Tom) are AWFUL. I really stopped caring about what happened to any of them because they were all just the worst.
Her writing of Flo also felt mean spirited and fatphobic. Like we get it. She’s wearing clothes that would only look good on apparent waif goddess Clare. You don’t need to keep talking about Flo’s “rolls” or “excess skin.”
Nora as a POV character was frustrating because she really wasn’t sympathetic. Yes,
I also don’t buy for even a second that Nora was ever an actress let alone the understudy for the lead role in a play like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Whether she was up Clare’s ass as a teenager or not, there’s no way someone that shy and awkward and who HATED attention would have even auditioned. This sounds like a petty gripe but I’m pointing it out because it seems like the author liked the idea of Nora and James falling in love while starring in the school play together even if it made ZERO sense for the characters. This is far from the only instance of this but it’s a noticeable one. That’s a problem to me. An author should have a better grasp on characterization.
Another example is that Nora is supposedly a successful crime novelist. Okay, fine. But this is only briefly mentioned once at the beginning of the book (and again if she was so successful, you’d think the other characters would have heard of her or her books), she shows ZERO signs of being able to solve any kind of mystery or be good at reading people (or having really any other kind of skill that you think would make for a successful mystery author) until suddenly at the very end when the explanation for everything is shoe-horned in and the killer is revealed.
The “how” and “why” of the murder at the center of all of this also feel a bit messy. There’s some gaping plot holes in how the killer was able to pull everything off and the reasoning behind it just also feels weirdly childish and doesn’t line up with the character we met (despite the author insisting on it by having characters go “Ah, yes! Of COURSE!” again and again at each reveal).
I know it sounds like I hated this book. I really didn’t. It was entertaining and a breeze to get through. I just am disappointed when I see an author with such potential sort of flounder a bit. I’d say this is a good Beach read or cozy rainy weekend read but I don’t think this book was memorable enough or good enough for me to ever really think of again once I’m done posting this review.
Graphic: Murder and Gun violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Gore, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Abortion, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy
boba_n_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Abortion, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Pregnancy
growintogardens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Car accident, Mental illness, Grief, Medical content, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Pregnancy, Blood, Violence, Abortion, Cursing, and Vomit
phantasmaboo'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
3.0
Overall, I thought this was a solid book by Ware, although not one of their strongest. The plot is told in a most non-chronological order, flashing the reader forward and back as Nora's memories unwind. I wouldn't say the ending was a surprise, and I did think that it was quite abrupt considering the pacing of the other parts of the book. Still, it was set up well and I could feel the tension in the final sections. I couldn't stop reading.
Some characters are fairly well-developed, while others only partially so. It was easy to tell who among the 6-7 "main" characters were suspects, because they received the most care and attention. Some side characters, like Nina, were developed more, but there were others who, quite literally, disappeared mid book only to never be discussed again. I found myself wondering why those characters were there at all if their sole purpose was to disappear.
As I mentioned, the ending was not a surprise and it was abrupt compared to the rest of the pacing. I wish that there had been more investigation on behalf of the protagonist, more so than what was in the final chapters of the book. Still, I think that the plot did well at making the reader doubt the protagonist's memory.
Finally, there were several incidents of xenophobic language used by Ware. For example, one person of color in the book is a taxi driver, whose accent is mocked by the main character as being "funny", a detail that was completely unnecessary other than to perpetuate harmful stereotypes. I would recommend the read with the understanding that this type language is used. It's not surprising as books by Ware have contained fatphobic and xenophobic language used.
Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy
Minor: Xenophobia
belladonnashrike's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
reminded me a lot of of gillian flynn’s work.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Car accident, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abortion, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Alcohol, Mental illness, Car accident, Drug use, Blood, and Death
Minor: Abortion, Gore, Grief, Vomit, and Pregnancy
Police questioningamurphyyy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Grief, Pregnancy, and Abortion
yogomagpie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Car accident, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy
spooderman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Medical content, Ableism, Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicide, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Outing, and Vomit
Minor: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt