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vigil's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
what a simmering disappointment. to get the positives out of the way, the atmosphere of the book is crafted masterfully. the descriptions are lush and the writing style is clear and concise while still being beautiful to read. the character work was mostly okay (except in iris, and a bit in vivi who i'll get to later) and i think grey hollow is the shining example of that. she is easily the smartest, cruelest, and most interesting character in the book, and balances it out by being incredibly compassionate, and protective of her loved ones, her sisters. for the first 200+ pages this book had me.
oncethey entered the halfway place my interest began to wane. tyler, who is so unremarkable i forgot to include him in the list of bad character work, is trapped in an evil horrid body horror filled place with iris, who has no discernible personality. i did not care about them individually and i definitely didn't care about them together. everything about this portion of the book is so repetitive that any of its earlier unnerving atmosphere immediately dissipates from how often your told how unnerving it is.
iris hollow is a shell of a character and waste of a protagonist. she has no character traits aside from being the victim in everything somehow, having her only friend be her mother, and she's not like other girls (namely her sisters, and the popular girls). she has a dissonant picture of morality, especially her own that does not line up with her actions. she chooses (along with vivi, who is barely a character as well) to condemn her elder sister grey for her actions that she a). went along with, b) actively chose to forget about in order to ignore her own culpability, c) continuously benefits from, even as the book ends. i bring this up because for a large portion of the book it had allowed space for ambiguity, power, and for girls to be unlikable, inaccessible, and the like without condemning them. which why i thought the black and white thinking on display was a waste for a book like this. especially when the main character is either culpable, or actively benefiting from the things grey has done. tossing aside your most interesting character like this was not a narrative choice that i enjoyed nor one that enriched the book imo. where's her introspection about that, orhow her not acting and allowing a TEN YEAR OLD to defend her instead of getting off her ass led to her death. it makes the oddest choices on when to gloss over something and when to nail it down, usually in the most nonsensical ways.
it has representation, if you could even call it that. iris is bisexual, and vivi is a lesbian. there is no romantic plot for really any of the sisters, yetiris manages to makeout with her missing-possibly dead sister's boyfriend while vivi gets??? nothing??? the only hint we get at iris liking girls aside from a hamfisted mention of it in the narrative is a mention of a spin the bottle game played in the past, which leads to a kiss which it almost immediately portrayed in negative light, with a girl who later becomes one of her tormentors.
all in all, this book fell off hard for me towards the end. the plot twist was ultimately unsatisfying in its execution and easily predictable. i'm more disappointed by this one than other ones, because it had excellent potential, especially for the first 200 pages. everything after that after that is just a waste. i think my largest complaint is that sutherland set up a plot that is not fully suited to the genre that it’s in (YA) and would have been a better richer the narrative as an adult or even new adult book.
once
iris hollow is a shell of a character and waste of a protagonist. she has no character traits aside from being the victim in everything somehow, having her only friend be her mother, and she's not like other girls (namely her sisters, and the popular girls). she has a dissonant picture of morality, especially her own that does not line up with her actions. she chooses (along with vivi, who is barely a character as well) to condemn her elder sister grey for her actions that she a). went along with, b) actively chose to forget about in order to ignore her own culpability, c) continuously benefits from, even as the book ends. i bring this up because for a large portion of the book it had allowed space for ambiguity, power, and for girls to be unlikable, inaccessible, and the like without condemning them. which why i thought the black and white thinking on display was a waste for a book like this. especially when the main character is either culpable, or actively benefiting from the things grey has done. tossing aside your most interesting character like this was not a narrative choice that i enjoyed nor one that enriched the book imo. where's her introspection about that, or
it has representation, if you could even call it that. iris is bisexual, and vivi is a lesbian. there is no romantic plot for really any of the sisters, yet
all in all, this book fell off hard for me towards the end. the plot twist was ultimately unsatisfying in its execution and easily predictable. i'm more disappointed by this one than other ones, because it had excellent potential, especially for the first 200 pages. everything after that after that is just a waste. i think my largest complaint is that sutherland set up a plot that is not fully suited to the genre that it’s in (YA) and would have been a better richer the narrative as an adult or even new adult book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Vomit, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual harassment, and Suicide
mpbookreviews's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Death of parent, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Child death, and Mental illness
gladys_enmarte's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
3.5
La noche de año nuevo las tres hermanas Hollow, Grey, Vivi e Iris, iban de paseo por una calle de Edimburgo junto con sus padres. Estos se distrajeron solo un segundo y las tres niñas desaparecieron. Un mes estuvieron perdidas pero cuando regresaron no eran las mismas: sus ojos azules se tornaron negros y su cabello pasó del negro al rubio platinado. Su padre sospechaba que no eran sus hijas, que habían sido cambiadas, las que regresaron eran otras criaturas que tomaron la fisonomía de sus hijas. Las niñas no recuerdan absolutamente nada pero tienen nuevas habilidades.
Años después, cuando Grey tiene diecinueve y es una reconocida supermodelo, vuelve a desaparecer. Sus hermanas empiezan a juntar las pistas que su hermana mayor les fue dejando para resolver dos misterios: uno, dónde está ella, ¿ha sido secuestrada de nuevo?, dos, ¿qué les sucedió aquella noche en Edimburgo cuando estuvieron un mes desaparecidas?
Este libro, mitad fantasía urbana, mitad cuento de hadas oscuro está ambientado en Londres y Edimburgo. Su ambientación es un 10/10, a medida que vas leyendo vas imaginando mentalmente las callejuelas estrechas, las casas antiguas del 1800, la neblina, etc. por donde los personajes se van moviendo. La historia es bastante oscura y retorcida. Tiene algunos trigger warnings como suicidio, violencia explícita, muertes, abuso de drogas y alcohol y ataque sexual, así que vayan con eso en mente si deciden leerlo.
Me sorprendió el misterio, no me esperaba ese desenlace, sin embargo, me vi venir algunos giros y en partes se torna un poco repetitivo y cíclico, como las descripciones o la búsqueda de Grey. En la primera mitad del libro no pasa mucho y se alarga el misterio de la desaparición y las nuevas habilidades. Tiene algunas otras cosillas pero para un juvenil así está bien. El puntaje que le doy es mayormente por la ambientación y por los temas raros relacionados con la muerte.
Si buscan un libro dark academia vibes, con misterio, bastante oscuro y perturbador, que te mantenga enganchada hasta el final y se lea rápido de seguro es este.
Sobre la edición de Gran Travesía: tiene algunos problemas de puntuación, como el de la página 183 donde hay una coma faltante y se distorsiona el contenido de la oración. En otras partes hay comas sobrantes: delante de "y" no corresponde, a no ser que sea un inciso.
Años después, cuando Grey tiene diecinueve y es una reconocida supermodelo, vuelve a desaparecer. Sus hermanas empiezan a juntar las pistas que su hermana mayor les fue dejando para resolver dos misterios: uno, dónde está ella, ¿ha sido secuestrada de nuevo?, dos, ¿qué les sucedió aquella noche en Edimburgo cuando estuvieron un mes desaparecidas?
Este libro, mitad fantasía urbana, mitad cuento de hadas oscuro está ambientado en Londres y Edimburgo. Su ambientación es un 10/10, a medida que vas leyendo vas imaginando mentalmente las callejuelas estrechas, las casas antiguas del 1800, la neblina, etc. por donde los personajes se van moviendo. La historia es bastante oscura y retorcida. Tiene algunos trigger warnings como suicidio, violencia explícita, muertes, abuso de drogas y alcohol y ataque sexual, así que vayan con eso en mente si deciden leerlo.
Me sorprendió el misterio, no me esperaba ese desenlace, sin embargo, me vi venir algunos giros y en partes se torna un poco repetitivo y cíclico, como las descripciones o la búsqueda de Grey. En la primera mitad del libro no pasa mucho y se alarga el misterio de la desaparición y las nuevas habilidades. Tiene algunas otras cosillas pero para un juvenil así está bien. El puntaje que le doy es mayormente por la ambientación y por los temas raros relacionados con la muerte.
Si buscan un libro dark academia vibes, con misterio, bastante oscuro y perturbador, que te mantenga enganchada hasta el final y se lea rápido de seguro es este.
Sobre la edición de Gran Travesía: tiene algunos problemas de puntuación, como el de la página 183 donde hay una coma faltante y se distorsiona el contenido de la oración. En otras partes hay comas sobrantes: delante de "y" no corresponde, a no ser que sea un inciso.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Child death, Death, and Suicide
cocopeters's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Child death, Death, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Animal death, Stalking, Grief, Death of parent, Drug use, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cursing and Vomit
emily_mh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4.5. I was REALLY pleasantly surprised by this one. It was super spooky and mysterious, and Sutherland's prose was beautiful and descriptive. I loved the focus on the sisters and their relationship. Also, the ending was incredibly satisfying. I will say there was a little too much retrospective monologuing on Iris' part. Also, the kiss between Tyler and Iris was so unnecessary! It completely undermined Iris' character, who up until this point was completely dedicated to Grey. If she truly was dedicated, she wouldn't have kissed her boyfriend !!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Death, Vomit, and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Stalking, Drug use, Suicide, Child abuse, Cursing, Body horror, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Violence, Child death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Misogyny, Animal death, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Car accident, Excrement, Physical abuse, Bullying, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Self harm, Sexism, Mental illness, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
HP reference. Moderate warnings for loss of a loved one, missing child, drowning, self injury, insects. Minor warnings for stillbirth, internalised misogyny.frankiejo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
two words: holy shit.
this was an incredible read that I tore through in less than a week. a definite page turner if there ever was one.
to be honest, the beginning left me a little bit worried. while i very much enjoyed the atmosphere and mood that beginning set, i felt at the start that things were a little overdescribed/overwrought/overdramatic, what have you, and that the exposition was a little heavy-handed and unsubtle, interrupting the narrative to explain what the girls were like as young children, or telling us their personalities, or describing the past reactions to their disappearance. i think the book could have benefited from a chapter or two at the beginning, maybe one showing their disappearance and the immediate aftermath, and the second showing their return and subsequent weirdness? the prologue could still be the same, because it's a brilliant hook, so it would be prologue - flashback - flash-forward - continue as written. i think that would have helped with the sometimes heavy handed exposition.
but these issues either dissapear completely or become negligible in the face of this book's fantastic middle and ending—or, like half the beginning, the middle, and the ending. i don't know, structure points like that are blurry as hell.
i honestly could not tell you if the exposition was poor after the beginning—it certainly seemed like less of an issue to me, but it might have just been so good i completely ignored it. the twist (which i wont spoil) is brilliant. it was perfectly executed. just enough clues and foreshadowing were given that i almost guessed it (i guessed something kind of similar, i had one major element wrong) but it wasn't obvious, although in hindsight there are definitely enough hints to guess the twist in its entirety, which isn't a bad thing! in fact i think its a good thing.
another thing i like about the twist is that i think the book would still work if you went in already knowing it. i feel like today we act like knowing a spoiler is the worst thing that could ever happen to a reader or viewer, especially with franchises like Marvel not even telling their actors the context for the scene they're doing to avoid them accidentally spoiler their Sacred Movie, but my honest opinion if that if knowing a spoiler ruins your movie's/book's/tv show's rewatch/reread value. and i just put this book down and i already want to reread it to see all the foreshadowing i missed. like go through with a highlighter and everything, haha. so if you already know the twist, don't worry, there is still plenty of value in the book, youll just have a different kind of fun realising all the foreshadowing i may have missed!
also, the ending leaves plenty of room open for a sequel if Sutherland wants to write one, but it's still a satisfying ending if there is no sequel, which is a skill!
all in all, a brilliantly plotted and executed read, with a slightly rocky beginning more than made up for once the ball gets rolling.
rep; bi main character, lesbian major character, gender-nonconforming major characters, korean major character
this was an incredible read that I tore through in less than a week. a definite page turner if there ever was one.
to be honest, the beginning left me a little bit worried. while i very much enjoyed the atmosphere and mood that beginning set, i felt at the start that things were a little overdescribed/overwrought/overdramatic, what have you, and that the exposition was a little heavy-handed and unsubtle, interrupting the narrative to explain what the girls were like as young children, or telling us their personalities, or describing the past reactions to their disappearance. i think the book could have benefited from a chapter or two at the beginning, maybe one showing their disappearance and the immediate aftermath, and the second showing their return and subsequent weirdness? the prologue could still be the same, because it's a brilliant hook, so it would be prologue - flashback - flash-forward - continue as written. i think that would have helped with the sometimes heavy handed exposition.
but these issues either dissapear completely or become negligible in the face of this book's fantastic middle and ending—or, like half the beginning, the middle, and the ending. i don't know, structure points like that are blurry as hell.
i honestly could not tell you if the exposition was poor after the beginning—it certainly seemed like less of an issue to me, but it might have just been so good i completely ignored it. the twist (which i wont spoil) is brilliant. it was perfectly executed. just enough clues and foreshadowing were given that i almost guessed it (i guessed something kind of similar, i had one major element wrong) but it wasn't obvious, although in hindsight there are definitely enough hints to guess the twist in its entirety, which isn't a bad thing! in fact i think its a good thing.
another thing i like about the twist is that i think the book would still work if you went in already knowing it. i feel like today we act like knowing a spoiler is the worst thing that could ever happen to a reader or viewer, especially with franchises like Marvel not even telling their actors the context for the scene they're doing to avoid them accidentally spoiler their Sacred Movie, but my honest opinion if that if knowing a spoiler ruins your movie's/book's/tv show's rewatch/reread value. and i just put this book down and i already want to reread it to see all the foreshadowing i missed. like go through with a highlighter and everything, haha. so if you already know the twist, don't worry, there is still plenty of value in the book, youll just have a different kind of fun realising all the foreshadowing i may have missed!
also, the ending leaves plenty of room open for a sequel if Sutherland wants to write one, but it's still a satisfying ending if there is no sequel, which is a skill!
all in all, a brilliantly plotted and executed read, with a slightly rocky beginning more than made up for once the ball gets rolling.
rep; bi main character, lesbian major character, gender-nonconforming major characters, korean major character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Vomit, Child death, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Blood, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Murder, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Suicide
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Drug use, and Misogyny
moderate nudity, moderate smoking, graphic binge eating, graphic bugs (entomophobia trigger),joyful_bookworm_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
3.75
turned out a lot darker than i thought it would. really interesting concept tho. the writing/prose is very immersive, descriptive, and vivid. audiobook made it better since i can’t read in a good british accent lol. some similarities to cruel prince by holly black.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Murder, Stalking, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Cursing, and Suicide
mo345's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
the weirdest and creepiest book i’ve ever read. i couldn’t put it down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Vomit, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Grief, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, and Self harm
a_libra_library's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved everything about this story! It was eerie, I was on edge the entire time. I loved how obsessed these sisters were with each other. This opened me to the YA horror genre! I loved every moment! changeling ?!? Nothing could have prepared me for that
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Vomit
kande0321's review against another edition
Honestly, the story intrigued me. There was just too much cursing for me. I felt like it was needlessly done and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I tried to get through the swearing and I feel like I gave it a good try, but I'm setting this one aside and I'm honestly glad I borrowed this one from the library and didn't buy this one with my own money.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, and Gore