Reviews

I really don't know how to score this, or even how to review it. It's not at all what I thought it would be from the blurb. It's hard to read, hard to stick with; I wanted to throw it down a lot as I was reading, as Doug descended into mania and Liv became more and more depressed. The ending doesn't resolve things and there are a lot of loose ends.

But I didn't put it down. I kept reading. Make of that whatever you want.

captainladyv's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

5.0

The twist of this book had me shook. I thought I knew what was going on until the big reveal occurred. The pace throughout the book was very constant until the last hour and a half of the audiobook and then it was a rollercoaster downhill in the absolute best way. 10/10 absolutely recommend

Content Warnings

amy_lauren's review against another edition

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4.0

I had such a roller coaster of a reaction to this book, which, upon finishing it, I think is exactly what the author intended. I nearly stopped reading about a third of the way in when Liv and Doug were torturing A – I felt so much concern and compassion for A, and I couldn't handle the way they were treating him, even as Liv struggled with her own resistance to Doug's methods. The way the story unfolded, though, truly threw me for a loop. I wound up loving the overall message of it (though it was pretty heavy-handed at times in making sure the reader understood that message loud and clear), that "alien" is sort of in the eye of the beholder and just because we consider someone to be Other, we don't have the right to decide who gets treaded with humanity and who doesn't.
Overall, the story was bizarre, wild, exciting, genuinely upsetting, and fascinating. I never would have picked this book up for myself, and even as I'm sitting here writing a four-star review of it, I'm not convinced that I liked it. That's not to say that I regret reading it, but it's one of those stories that is so hard to read that while the experience was absolutely worthwhile and will stick with me for some time, I wouldn't go so far as to say it was enjoyable, per se. Sort of like the movie The Revenant. Fantastic story, and I never want to watch it ever again.
This book is going to sit in my brain for a little while, I think.

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