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kbergsten's review
- 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
Graphic: Car accident, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence
maiagaia's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The final chapter was absolutely stunning. A total gut punch. Tragic and hopeful at the same time: a deadly combination.
I loved Lo as a character. I understood her. I got where she was coming from. Until I didn't. To be more specific, once Lo starts palling around with the cult, I intellectually understood what the author was trying to do, but I don't think the execution was successful. Lo went from being supremely distrustful of every member to trusting them so quickly it gave me whiplash. It started out as the members slowly wearing her down and winning her over and then BLAM she's convinced her sister was a manipulative liar the whole time. The groundwork was there for another 50 or so pages of her struggling with herself and
being manipulated into the position she ended up in, but it moved too quickly and ultimately felt cheap and rushed.
The climax was simply not good. I'm not sure if you can even call it deus ex machina because the character doesn't even remember how they got out of their situation. It is textually written off as god intervening? Which I guess means it literally is deus ex machina...... Which is to say: lame. And this is coming from someone who LOVES a Greek tragedy.
Ultimately, I didn't realize this was YA, and I don't think I would have picked it up if I had. I only mention this because I think many of the issues I had could have been fixed by adding more pages and diving more into the characters' internal worlds, neither of which are fair expectations for a YA book, imo. The adult and YA markets have different expectations, and when expectations don't match reality, it's tough for the book to make up that ground.
The audiobook was good. The narrators were distinct enough for me even when I cranked it up to 2x speed for the last quarter or so.
Overall, I enjoyed this read (mostly) and don't regret picking it up. It was a quick listen that I got through in a single work day, so I can't complain.
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Murder
elwirax's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The bond between Lo and Bea was insubstantial not to mention Lo's sudden and inexcusable actions. In the end i didn't really care for either of them.
The last 15% was interesting but felt rushed and wasn't enough to make up for the rest.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Death and Suicide
lou_o_donnell'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
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Car accident, Suicide, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Confinement, Grief, Gaslighting, and Fire/Fire injury
bri_lliantlybookishef669's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Abandonment, and Car accident
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Suicide, and Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy
pamshenanigans's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
* One of my most anticipated for this year but it wasn’t much what I expected
* I think it may have been wrong to expect so much given how AMAZING Sadie was
* I’m giving it 3 stars because of the gripping writing style, but everything else, the mystery, the plot, the characters, were all lackluster
Trigger/Content Warnings: depression, suicide, car accident, death of loved ones, physical abuse, trauma
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Car accident and Suicide
Minor: Death
house_of_hannah'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
1.5
A majority of the book is conversations between several people. One of them is constantly preaching, which just ended up being annoying after awhile. The multiple timeline ended up not giving as much insight as I hoped either, so it just never really felt like anything was happening. Lo, the sister trying to find the one who joined the cult, goes to the Unity Project, yells at someone, goes to work, and repeat. That's it, that's the book.
I thought there would be some surprise, or intrigue, but it just ended up being a stereotypical cult story. The climax of the story even happens off screen, and since the MC doesn't even know what happened we never get any answers. Unfortunately for me there weren't any likable characters to make up for the plot either, so this one is a disappointment in the end.
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Torture, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Pregnancy and Murder
rhguerrero'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? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Miscarriage and Infidelity
katemreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Suicide, and Sexual content
melaniereadsbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was a very high-intensity thriller. This deals with some really tricky subjects, and does a good job expressing the feelings of loss, grief, and loneliness that are preyed upon by Lev and his cult. Though I can't really say I liked the characters, I did enjoy reading about them, and I was on the metaphorical edge of my seat while racing through this book! I really enjoyed the way this ended, as well. I'm definitely scoping out this author's other books to read.
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Pregnancy