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shiboigal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Abandonment and Gun violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Car accident, Vomit, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Infidelity
rochelleisreading's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Death, and Domestic abuse
bookcheshirecat's review
3.0
“Yellow wallpaper. White grip. Red hand.”
➽ No One Can Know is Kate Alice Marshall's newest Thriller! I have to admit that I had some mixed feelings on this one. The story follows Emma who was accused of having killed her parents years ago and is still struggling with this trauma. Back then she protected her two sisters Juliette and Daphne, but they're now estranged and haven't spoken in years. When she has to come back to town and live in her parent's old house because she has no choice, Emma discovers that her past isn't done with her yet!
➽ My favorite thing about this book was the complicated sibling relationship! The focus is on Emma, but her sisters also get POVs - both in the past and present. They grew up with an abusive father and a controlling mother who expected them to fit into their roles perfectly. Each girl dealt with this in her own way. Juliette played the perfect daughter, always trying to cater to her parents so no one looks closer and gets suspicious of her. Emma never managed that so she lashed out and became a troublemaker. She dreamt of going to art school away from her parents, but they weren't planning on letting her go. Daphne is neurodivergent (it's not really explored in more depth though) and gets panic attacks sometimes, so she had a hard time during her childhood. Her mother was super ableist and never got her the proper care she needed, so she had to be quiet and keep everyone's secrets.
➽ After their parents were murdered, the three sisters drifted apart and couldn't look past what happened. Emma did everything to protect them but felt rejected and left behind. I felt sorry for her, as she was terrified everyone else would leave her like her sisters did. She keeps putting herself in smaller boxes and unlike in the past, she tries to cater to everyone's needs to make them stay.
➽ I think I just don't enjoy Domestic Thrillers, as despite KAM being an amazing author, I had some issues with this book. I much preferred What Lies in the Woods! The author does a good job of writing a compelling book, but I thought the mystery wasn't as engaging as I hoped it would be. The twists didn't really shock me and when I think about it now, the ending didn't really satisfy me. I wouldn't say that the mystery was predictable, but I don't think I cared about it too much. I also hated how big of a role Emma's horrible husband Nathan played. I wish I had known beforehand how controlling and abusive he was. There were a lot of red flags from the beginning, but the longer the book goes on, the more obvious it becomes that their relationship is toxic. It was difficult to read about, especially as it took Emma until the very end of the book to realize how abusive Nathan was and that she shouldn't feel guilty for not loving him. The first half of the book was dominated by Nathan gaslighting, belittling and controlling Emma. I could have done without the abusive husband storyline and would have loved more insight into the estranged sisters in the present.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Car accident, Abortion, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Drug use, and Stalking
ashleycote'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder and Gun violence
Moderate: Infidelity, Drug use, and Blood
Minor: Miscarriage and Suicide
aileron'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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Animal death, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Stalking, Suicide, Cancer, Abandonment, and Terminal illness
owlmanda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Infidelity
shesflippinpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Stalking, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Pregnancy, and Medical trauma
Minor: Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Cancer, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Vomit, Addiction, Body shaming, Infertility, Outing, Car accident, and Eating disorder
cassiereadsbooks_'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Murder, Death, Police brutality, Blood, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
amanda_reads89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Pregnancy and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Car accident, Miscarriage, and Infidelity
depmythmoon'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book takes what would you do for the ones you love to a whole new level.
The story was told via a then and now timeline (which I used an unfortunate number of tabs to annotate), and it was interesting to slowly figure out who committed the 2 murders. I will say, the author does keep the reader waiting and questioning things until the very end. Too many times throughout the book, I found myself throwing out wild accusations between the sisters and others to the point I gave up trying to see where this book was going. The reveal ended up being both expected and unexpected in a way that left me feeling bested. I like it.
Ms. Marshall, the author, did a great job at creating characters that were layered and complicated. Being able to see how each layer was revealed as the story went on was enjoyable, and it made me feel like I didn’t really know any of them in a way that worked. It’s interesting to see how the sisters’ personalities shifted from then compared to now. It’s almost like they adopted each others personalities as a way to cope and rebrand themselves after their parents’ deaths. The parents… now they were just terrible and sick in such a careful way that I found myself disgusted with them at times… or pretty much every time they were mentioned. The abuse they put these girls through is something no one should have to experience, and it makes sense how the girls ended up the way they are. It leaves the reader wondering whether or not their death was for the best. I’m not one to judge whether or not someone deserves life or not… but I’ll say that the world did not lose anything with their deaths; I’ll be honest.
What did kind of frustrate me was how some questions remained unanswered to the very end. They’re not truly focused on and don’t impact the main plot that’s being told much, but I would have liked to know the answers regardless. The father had some deeper layers than being a terrible father, and I would have liked to know more about the secrets he was keeping. Also, the development between Emma and Gabriel didn’t feel fully developed as a subplot. They have a complicated past, sure, but how they move forward given this past felt a little… off.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Drug use
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Murder, Drug abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Eating disorder and Sexual content