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wogslandwriter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall, I enjoyed the story and it's nuanced and less nuanced analyses of how a story is affected by the author and vice versa. Some parts were feather-light and I felt accomplished for seeing them and noticing the themes. Other parts were extremely heavy-handed and felt a little silly to read.
I think having the "real world" elements be restricted entirely to correspondence was a really smart move and really pulled the book together.
Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Blood, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Gore, Classism, Medical content, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Deportation, Alcohol, Child death, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Pedophilia
One of the main characters describes and incident from their past where a younger sibling dies in an accident. Another describes a childhood incident where a beating from a parent has pedophilic overtones, but there is an intervention before anything beyond physical violence occurs.justagir1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Classism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Death
Moderate: Gaslighting, Stalking, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Grief, and Sexual assault
librarymouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Blood, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death
Moderate: Police brutality, Pedophilia, Addiction, Violence, and Child abuse
bluecardinal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Rape, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Classism, Gun violence, and Racism
bzliz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The story takes several turns and I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery along with Freddie and while I can’t say I was too shocked at the ending, there was just enough left that I hadn’t pieced together to be surprising. I believe the email subplot is the darkest part of the story because it’s meant to be the “real” world. I particularly like that although we see Hannah’s work and we see Leo’s response, we never see her directly nor do we see her messages to Leo. I just found that intriguing.
If you’re like me on occasion and need to see whodunnit, spoilers ahead:
The “real” Leo has been acting as a research resource for Hannah while he shops around his own book. He starts sending her photos of crime scenes, then bodies, claiming to have found the crime scene later but actually he killed those people and his emails get increasingly creepy with suggestions on how to brutalize characters or punish Freddie for falling for Cain. He finally tries to get to Hannah and is apprehended by Australian police. His final letter to her comes when he’s in jail.
Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, and Drug abuse
amberinpieces's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Death, Cursing, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Body horror, Classism, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
schausjk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Stalking and Death of parent
j_emerson18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I am honestly a little upset by the lack of depth or detail about the secondary story between two writers in which one is a serial killer. I would have loved more information about the two of them.
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Stalking, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Torture
Minor: Grief and Sexual content
arthur_ant18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Murder and Stalking
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcohol, and Child abuse
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, and Incest
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Medical content, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Torture and Rape
Minor: Racism and Sexual content