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mangosugar'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
4.0
this review’s gonna be messy bc i’m in bed and i’m 12% conscious right now (pun intended) but here we go.
pros:
1. excellent writing as usual. alice feeney has always been incredible at creating so much mystery and tension with her words and narration, it floors me every time.
2. super unique and eery premise. the very concept of being stuck in your own body, aware of your surroundings but unable to fully trust your own senses and memories, vulnerable to the people around you, and fearing everyone is a suspect…. gives me chills. i love it.
3. another classic miss feeney unreliable narrator, she’s just so good at writing them and having me question every like i read because, if you haven’t guessed already, sometimes the main character lies.
4. i enjoy the parallel timelines or rather the switching from the present, past, and diary entries quite a lot
cons:
1. it dragged. like a lot. near the last 80 pages i was just reading diagonally because i had had enough tbh. there’s only so much jerking around a reader can take before they slam the book down and yell “well what the fuck is the truth then AMBER?”
2. while the premise is incredible and feeney does a pretty good job executing it for the most part, the very slow pace kind of kills it once you reach a certain point. again, pick up the speed, i beg you.
3. the twist kinda left me ??? because it was a lot of twists all packed into the last 50 pages and i felt like i was watching a table tennis match but i can only hear the ball, not see it. i’m still pretty confused, especially with the open ending. maybe the protagonist lies too much because now i don’t even know what the hell happened 😭
4. besides the two main characters, everyone else is sort of mid, with the exception of an antagonist. like i wasn’t able to connect with anyone else and i think that’s important because if i need to suspect everyone, i should be able to get a good read on who the characters are. however a lot of them come off pretty one-dimensional.
5. i might be repeating myself here but there really was one too many twists and i’m not sure if i’m just misunderstanding it here, but i feel like the godmother twist makes little sense? that’s vague enough to not be a spoiler lmao. if anyone understood it better please explain 😭
all in all, not my favourite alice feeney book, but it did hook me and i was really invested throughout the novel, though i found the pacing way too slow and the explanations behind the plot a bit too convoluted.
Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, and Death
aselin's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Car accident, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual assault, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Rape, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Infertility, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Grief, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
joisaddler'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
2.0
Graphic: Car accident, Gaslighting, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Fatphobia, Infertility, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
faythfarrar's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Addiction, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Death, and Stalking
ekmook's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pregnancy, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
marijuanerareads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Rape
mdevlin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault and Death
oliverreeds's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Rape, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Stalking, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
imaginarylizzy'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
Graphic: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Miscarriage, Car accident, and Mental illness
rharris86dc's review
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Rape, Car accident, Death, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship