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megnut's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Homophobia
Moderate: Suicide and Violence
Minor: Drug abuse and Suicide attempt
shinaa's review
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I would have given it a 5 star rating if not not for the gay part.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Genocide, Alcoholism, Murder, Alcohol, and Drug use
Moderate: Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Car accident, and Abandonment
Minor: Self harm and Suicide
I was really happy thatbookshroom247's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Outing, Drug use, Violence, Hate crime, and Homophobia
Minor: Emotional abuse
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
This was an entertaining read, it was fairly fast paced and it held my attention. I enjoyed getting to know the characters through their own perspectives! I didn’t like Cooper’s POV as much for awhile because it was a lot of baseball talk which I just don’t care for 😅 but he grew on me eventually! The first half of the book was really good but I didn’t love the second half.
I didn’t guess any of the twists which is always a plus for me! However the reveal was kind of disappointing (and a bit of a cop out in my opinion). It just didn’t excite me and I wasn’t racing to find out the answers with this like I normally do with thrillers. The ending was also underwhelming-it’s the ending of book 1 in a thriller series, where is the cliffhanger? This could even be read as a stand alone I think 😅 I will however be picking up book 2 this weekend because it fits a prompt for a readathon I’m doing, otherwise I’d be in no rush to continue.
Overall it’s entertaining and a quick read but left me feeling underwhelmed in the end. I’d still recommend if you’re looking for an easy thriller with well developed characters!
Content Warnings
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
jasmineslibraryy's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i was very intrigued, but the book was pretty predictable ngl. still enjoyable though! i liked the characters, and the intertwining storylines, but i think there should've been more to this book for everything to be so carefully intricated, and so that they all had more time to grow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Outing, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Homophobia
hmbird's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.0
It was good, but hard to pick up again after I set it down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Drug use, Drug abuse, Murder, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Blood
victoria_elaine's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Read this book in pretty much two sittings, and I absolutely LOVED it ❤️❤️ everything was perfect. I was immediately hooked and never felt like there was a dull moment or lost interest. The ending was everything I needed between Nate and Bronwyn in the epilogue, Addy and Cooper finding themselves, and the shocking yet not too far fetched truth about Simon’s death . Overall LOVE LOVE LOVE PLEASE READ 🙏🏻
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death and Drug abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Mass/school shootings, and Toxic relationship
lover97's review against another edition
4.0
One of us is lying
This isn't exactly an unheard of storyline. A bunch of kids from different cliques forced together around a mystery. Now let me say I have read the book before and seen the first season of the show, so I already knew the twist. This means I can't really comment on its predictability, but other people certainly have.
What I do want to talk about is the characters.
Bronwyn, who's the resident super nerd and winds up falling for the bad boy. Not a shocker, but her relationship with her sister is a strong plot point and maeve honestly, is much more entertaining.
Nate, the criminal. He has the most fleshed out backstory, and you can't help but feel bad for him once you learn about his childhood.
The two of them are sweet, and I enjoyed the way they got to know each other over the phone. It feels like a genuine connection, plus there's Stan the lizard, and I love that.
Then we have Cooper, the star baseball player. I know Nate draws the short straw in terms of the mystery, but Cooper is forced to tell people he's gay before he's ready, and it's definitely my least favourite twist in the book. Not because he's gay but because we as readers get his POV and are unaware of this until everyone else knows. We already knew he was cheating. There was no reason not to say who with. It robbed us of scenes between him and Kris that would have helped flesh out the relationship more.
My favourite of the four is Addy. The princess. Except she's not really, her mams horrible to her, and her boyfriend is a piece of shit. She has the best development of the four. You get to see her go from controlled to doing what she wants, and you can tell from her POV that she feels lighter as the book goes on despite the situation. I also really liked her relationship with her sister and how they reconnect.
The plot was interesting. I had forgotten that there's never really a point in time when they suspect the others of actually killing him. It certainly makes for an interesting whodunit when they don't have any suspects they just know it wasn't them. The scene in detention was really well done. With all the POVs and emotional reactions, it felt very real.
In a surprising turn of events, I may actually prefer the ending in the show. Spoilers if you've not seen it
.
.
.
.
Rather than Simon killing himself, the plan, if I remember correctly, is to frame them for attempted murder but jake takes all the epipens, and Simon dies.
This allowed the show to stick to the rough ending but eliminate the issues people have with the way the ending can be interpreted as villianising mental health. It certainly doesn't paint suicidal individuals in a great light if you just look at simon, but I do think it shows the importance of having people and offering help, even if it's just asking how someone is doing.
Janae, who's also struggling with her mental health, finds a friend in Addy and then in the rest of the four. I liked their friendship. It shows a compassionate side to addy as well as introducing a way to see Simon as something other than a gossip.
But also Addy had her sister, and I think there's a decent representation of what it's like to be in and then get out of a controlling relationship.
All in all, the mystery made more of an impact in the first read, but I think I appreciated the development of Addy and Nate more this time around. While the plot isn't the most intense mystery, you have to be somewhat impressed by the planning Simon put into his grand scheme.
This isn't exactly an unheard of storyline. A bunch of kids from different cliques forced together around a mystery. Now let me say I have read the book before and seen the first season of the show, so I already knew the twist. This means I can't really comment on its predictability, but other people certainly have.
What I do want to talk about is the characters.
Bronwyn, who's the resident super nerd and winds up falling for the bad boy. Not a shocker, but her relationship with her sister is a strong plot point and maeve honestly, is much more entertaining.
Nate, the criminal. He has the most fleshed out backstory, and you can't help but feel bad for him once you learn about his childhood.
The two of them are sweet, and I enjoyed the way they got to know each other over the phone. It feels like a genuine connection, plus there's Stan the lizard, and I love that.
Then we have Cooper, the star baseball player. I know Nate draws the short straw in terms of the mystery, but Cooper is forced to tell people he's gay before he's ready, and it's definitely my least favourite twist in the book. Not because he's gay but because we as readers get his POV and are unaware of this until everyone else knows. We already knew he was cheating. There was no reason not to say who with. It robbed us of scenes between him and Kris that would have helped flesh out the relationship more.
My favourite of the four is Addy. The princess. Except she's not really, her mams horrible to her, and her boyfriend is a piece of shit. She has the best development of the four. You get to see her go from controlled to doing what she wants, and you can tell from her POV that she feels lighter as the book goes on despite the situation. I also really liked her relationship with her sister and how they reconnect.
The plot was interesting. I had forgotten that there's never really a point in time when they suspect the others of actually killing him. It certainly makes for an interesting whodunit when they don't have any suspects they just know it wasn't them. The scene in detention was really well done. With all the POVs and emotional reactions, it felt very real.
In a surprising turn of events, I may actually prefer the ending in the show. Spoilers if you've not seen it
.
.
.
.
Rather than Simon killing himself, the plan, if I remember correctly, is to frame them for attempted murder but jake takes all the epipens, and Simon dies.
This allowed the show to stick to the rough ending but eliminate the issues people have with the way the ending can be interpreted as villianising mental health. It certainly doesn't paint suicidal individuals in a great light if you just look at simon, but I do think it shows the importance of having people and offering help, even if it's just asking how someone is doing.
Janae, who's also struggling with her mental health, finds a friend in Addy and then in the rest of the four. I liked their friendship. It shows a compassionate side to addy as well as introducing a way to see Simon as something other than a gossip.
But also Addy had her sister, and I think there's a decent representation of what it's like to be in and then get out of a controlling relationship.
All in all, the mystery made more of an impact in the first read, but I think I appreciated the development of Addy and Nate more this time around. While the plot isn't the most intense mystery, you have to be somewhat impressed by the planning Simon put into his grand scheme.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Suicide
creativeworld's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
An easy read and a fun mystery. The ending was satisfying, although I hate Nate the rest of the characters are good. Exactly the kind of book I was looking for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child death, Classism, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Car accident
Minor: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Self harm, Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
bookish_bae's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Very good romance, page turner, hard to guess ending
Content Warnings
Moderate: Outing, Grief, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Self harm, and Alcoholism