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karly_ackley's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder
ditareads___'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Very descriptive read, it was easy to get lost in the pages. But progress was slow and not enough big Ah Ha! Moments so you are left with more questions than when you started.
Honestly, to finish a whole book and not know who the killer is?! Upset and yet I have already ordered book 2 from my local library -_- I hope I dont have to wait till book 4 to get some answers!!!! And I do hope all answered are actually answered.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
david_slack110507's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I will admit that I would have most likely gotten this finished a lot earlier if I hadn't gotten distracted with other books and other things happening in life as I left the book with about 40ish pages left for a while whilst finishing other books and doing other things in life.
The biggest strength of the book is that it is fast-paced, I got through most of the book very quickly and the condensed chapter length helped with this as they didn't drag on for too long. Another highlight of the book is that the dual timelines work very well with me sometimes preferring the past timeline over the present Ellingham one, but both were interesting, and their associated mysteries were good as well though in that regard I would say that the Truly Devious plotline from the past was a much more interesting mystery than the one in the present regarding the murder of Hayes.
My biggest issue with the book is that I found it very difficult to connect with the characters as with regards to the past timeline, the story is told factually that sometimes has some character moments that help develop the cast of characters for that timeline, but this doesn't happen often. The cast of characters for the present timeline wasn't also the easiest to connect as very few characters stood out to me apart from Nate and Stevie who I think had the most distinctive personalities/characters though I would be interested in seeing them develop, I just found that it was quite overwhelming with the number of characters introduced and then often left for extended periods of time before being reintroduced into the story.
The second half and near the end is definitely the strongest part of the book and I am very interested in seeing where both the Truly Devious and Hayes' murder throughout the series. I do hope that the series doesn't drag out the mystery, but I have a feeling that it will reach a satisfying conclusion. I would give this a 4 but I feel like a 3.5-star rating is much more appropriate as my main issues such as the lack of connectivity as well as Stevie and David's relationship kind of came out of nowhere. I feel like my experience with this book would have been much better if I had read it more consistently, so this is a fault on my part.
The biggest strength of the book is that it is fast-paced, I got through most of the book very quickly and the condensed chapter length helped with this as they didn't drag on for too long. Another highlight of the book is that the dual timelines work very well with me sometimes preferring the past timeline over the present Ellingham one, but both were interesting, and their associated mysteries were good as well though in that regard I would say that the Truly Devious plotline from the past was a much more interesting mystery than the one in the present regarding the murder of Hayes.
My biggest issue with the book is that I found it very difficult to connect with the characters as with regards to the past timeline, the story is told factually that sometimes has some character moments that help develop the cast of characters for that timeline, but this doesn't happen often. The cast of characters for the present timeline wasn't also the easiest to connect as very few characters stood out to me apart from Nate and Stevie who I think had the most distinctive personalities/characters though I would be interested in seeing them develop, I just found that it was quite overwhelming with the number of characters introduced and then often left for extended periods of time before being reintroduced into the story.
The second half and near the end is definitely the strongest part of the book and I am very interested in seeing where both the Truly Devious and Hayes' murder throughout the series. I do hope that the series doesn't drag out the mystery, but I have a feeling that it will reach a satisfying conclusion. I would give this a 4 but I feel like a 3.5-star rating is much more appropriate as my main issues such as the lack of connectivity as well as Stevie and David's relationship kind of came out of nowhere. I feel like my experience with this book would have been much better if I had read it more consistently, so this is a fault on my part.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Violence and Grief
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
simply_fran's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder
bee87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Would’ve been five stars but….CLIFFHANGER?!!!!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
mcirish02's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The ending made me furious. The rest was decent. That's all I've got to say about that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Murder
jennamuggs's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Stevie was a relatable character to me. I know what it's like to be on anxiety and depression medication at the same time. (it's a doozy) The supporting characters were likable, however, there are a lot of characters. Between the flashbacks to the 1930s and the present, it was a lot to keep up with. At times I would stop and be like, "Who's this bitch again?" and have to backtrack a bit. At times I did feel like the author captured the emotions of the teenage characters. However, the characters also feel more like 20-somethings at times. Maybe that's because these students aren't average. Most students are obviously gifted with talent and/or wealthy. Maybe that's the point, idk.
One last thing I loved: the way the boarding school, Ellington, is described makes me long to go to a place like that. It gives dark academic vibes, decaying opulence, and a socially awkward teen ambiance.
Overall, I really liked this book. Enough to start reading the sequel immediately after.
One last thing I loved: the way the boarding school, Ellington, is described makes me long to go to a place like that. It gives dark academic vibes, decaying opulence, and a socially awkward teen ambiance.
Overall, I really liked this book. Enough to start reading the sequel immediately after.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Alcohol
theespressoedition's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder
thebookpaiges's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping
jamespotterluv's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
YALL this was mad. im so ANNOEYDSAUI like bro. i cant even spoil it for yall bc by the end half the plot twists aint even solved. like cmon. im lowkey addicted to this series. i need to finish it bc what. so there's quite a few plot twists and there's one right at the end, y'all know which one i mean. i guessed most of the plot twists im not gonna lie, most were predictable buT I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING LIEK WHAT. crazy. the writing was sanist a few times. it felt like diverse characters were j included for it to be diverse. like, a sentence was made abt them, maybe about like their pronouns or smth and that was it. u got one sentence. if ur gonna represent someone do it right! like, the author misgendered her own character. bfr. i felt like the author kinda rushed the ending? i mean, great ending, don't get me wrong. this was a medium paced book up until chapter 26. after that i was like "more is happening in these last chapters than the 26 chapters before it" like sm was happening n it was hard to keep track of who did what.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Grief, and Death of parent