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siennaflynn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, and Outing
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Cursing, Grief, Mental illness, Medical content, and Murder
Minor: Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Transphobia, Car accident, Sexism, and Death of parent
katthecat'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? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Cancer, Suicide, Death, and Drug use
robinie142's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Grief, Suicide, and Outing
Minor: Mass/school shootings and Drug use
wild_mustang's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.25
Pretty much just teen drama - sex, drugs, alcohol and depression. Oh, and trying to stay out of jail - but to be honest there wasn’t heaps of focus on the murder mystery. At least there wasn’t until the last 100 pages or so.
Personally, I didn’t really care for the romance sub-plots either.
The writing was also in a more juvenile voice than what I normally read, which makes sense because it’s first person perspectives from teenagers, but it took me a little while to get used to. Additionally, many of the plots were very trope heavy and painfully stereotypical at times
However, if was a very easy read and only took like 7hrs so it gets an average 3 star rating. The extra quarter of a star is an appreciation of some of the authors writing choices and the execution of perspective narrations to reveal relevant things in the intended literary light and at the right narrative time.
I recently studied Reader-Response Theory and I think, in this light, McManus did a very good job at writing for the implied reader (so the rating is bumped up), however, I really don’t think that I am the implied or intended reader (so it’s still a fairly average rating).
To take a strategic leaf from Simon’s tumblr…
JT recommended this to me and I’m not mad I read it but I certainly don’t care to continue the series.
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Outing
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Cursing, and Homophobia
Minor: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Vomit, Abandonment, Sexual content, Cancer, Car accident, Sexual assault, Mass/school shootings, and Self harm
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Outing
Moderate: Homophobia, Cancer, Addiction, Mental illness, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Mass/school shootings, and Suicide
Minor: Car accident, Vomit, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
ansuya's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Outing
Moderate: Gun violence and Cancer
olivia_sz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Outing, Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Suicide
Moderate: Cancer and Medical content
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Self harm, Gore, Alcohol, Car accident, Gun violence, and Suicide attempt
confessionsofabibliophile's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Upon reading the first few chapters of this book, I was sucked in. It gave me Pretty Little Liars vibes with a splash of The Breakfast Club thrown in. Unsure if in the future when the "Bayview Four" are named the Murder Club if this was McManus paying homage to the 80s classic, even if it wasn't a little Easter Egg it made me laugh.
The book takes place in an area of California, I know all too well. Which gave me the ability to immerse myself more into the read. We follow in the first few chapters 5 students: Bronwyn Rojas; very girl next door, top of the class and squeaky clean or so we think, she reminded me of Molly Ringwalds character in The Breakfast Club. Adelaide "Addy" Prentiss; miss popularity dating star athlete the perfect pair, everyone knows who she is by name and by who she is dating but not who ADDY is which let me tell you at the start I really didn't care too much for her she seemed like filler until her story and personal development begins to unfold. She gave me a mix of Hannah from PLL. Cooper Clay; all American golden boy, with the perfect life, grades, MLB scouts pick and the perfect girl, but Coop is hiding a secret that he is worried might end his perfect facade. He is the male counterpart to Emily from PLL. Next, we have Nathaniel "Nate"' Macauley; is the bad boy, down on his luck, guy from the other side of the tracks the only one without a squeaky clean past. He screams a hybrid of Caleb Rivers (PLL) and John Bender (TBC)! Lastly we have Simon Kelleher, he is the school gossip app specialist, secret digger and lie detector. The homecoming court prince that no one seems to think much of. Simon screams A from PLL!!! We start with 5 then someone dies and then the Bayview Four is born and our Murder Club strangers become the unlikely friends that solve the mystery behind the murder.
The characters were well written and I felt connected to them. I think Addy was one of the best character development progressions I have seen for a character set up like Addy. The plot flowed well with no holes that I could find. The story had a good pace, it felt smooth and effortless as it progressed and you begin to unravel the truth about the murder and the Bayview Four. With that being said the ending that was supposed to be a twist and shock, it was to an extent but I had thought about the possibility earlier on in the story, though it didn't change my Oh My God moment.
All in all it was a great quick read that took about a day. Definitely going to read her other books in the series and absolutely will watch the tv show! I totally recommend this YA murder mystery/thriller with a slice of life setting!
Moderate: Bullying, Murder, Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Physical abuse
Minor: Cancer, Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, Abandonment, Addiction, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse
katerinamckenna's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Violence, Cancer, and Toxic relationship
2j4d3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Death of parent, Grief, Addiction, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cancer