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tanya240's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Self harm, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Stalking, Drug use, Blood, Car accident, Violence, Sexual harassment, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
kellyofcali'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
2.5
Graphic: Stalking, Violence, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, and Death
Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Drug use, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Grief
sadie_g's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Stalking and Infidelity
5headwh0's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Cursing, Gore, Self harm, Gaslighting, Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Blood, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Self harm, Gore, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Drug abuse, Death, and Suicide
umha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Gun violence
xgabrielle_hx'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
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Child abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Grief, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, and Torture
emi__bee__'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Murder, Mental illness, Blood, Stalking, Infidelity, and Gaslighting
zm_gl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Stalking, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Murder, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Torture, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
pupaebug'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
2.5
I also really did not understand how Theo kept getting his way. Is he charismatic? I didn't feel that he was. Why did everyone at the Grove just keep letting him do what he wanted? Why did they trust a new psychoanalyst (not a doctor) about medication but not Christian, a medical doctor with experience with patients such as Alicia and far more mental health training than Theo? Why was Theo so easily able to become Alicia's psychiatrist?
Another thing that infuriated me about this book is Alicia's journal. I've written in a diary on and off for my entire life, and I keep a regular diary now. Alicia's diary is not how normal people write. Normal people write about their own experiences from their perspective, which is distorted by their feelings on the matters they discuss. Diaries are stream-of-consciousness style. No one writes lines of perfect dialogue in their diary followed by novel-style narration. It completely took me out of it and made me think that the diary was fabricated as part of the mystery. That would have been interesting. Even Alicia's diary written in a stream-of-consciousness way, with unreliable and distorted perspectives, would have been interesting for the novel. But alas, we got none of those and it turns out Alex Michaelides just does not know how people keep journals.
I honestly also just think I've had enough of this incredibly simple, friendly style of narration I see in books published since 2015. This book just sounded like a guy was talking to a friend, and my personal preference is for writing that requires some mental dissection and thought. Theo plainly stated every single thing that he wanted to get through to the reader. While this isn't a bad thing, it made me feel like I was reading a book written for ten-year-olds who haven't developed the ability to understand other people's emotions yet. It was almost insulting as a reader, do I need it spelled out to me that Theo felt sad when he found out Kathy was cheating on him? Am I not trusted to infer a single thing on my own?
All this aside, the book was entertaining and kept me wanting to keep reading. I was confused by how short the chapters were,
Graphic: Stalking, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, and Suicide