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crystal689's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Grief, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Blood, Cancer, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death
wendyk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book might make your head spin, but it was worth it. Kit left six months ago for Wisewood, a wellness retreat (cult?) that promises to help her reach her maximum self and overcome her fears. Then, Nat, Kit's sister, gets an email from Wisewood. It threatens she can tell kit her secret or they will. Nat rushes to Wisewood, but while the guests know her sister well, she's risen in the ranks, no one can tell Nat where to find her. As Nat gets more unsettled by what she sees and hears at the retreat, she just wants to find her sister and get away from Wisewood, but Wisewood has other plans for the sisters. Plans to help them overcome their fears.
Flashbacks to the sisters' childhood and an unnamed narrator's story had me as confused as Nat trying to locate her sister. But I was not disappointed. It's twisty, it's confusing; I loved it.
Flashbacks to the sisters' childhood and an unnamed narrator's story had me as confused as Nat trying to locate her sister. But I was not disappointed. It's twisty, it's confusing; I loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Self harm
Moderate: Death of parent
theoceanrose's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cancer
_savannahreads_'s review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death of parent, Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, Death, Grief, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
meemawreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book entertained me but it didn’t blow me away, which is fine because I got exactly what I expected. Oddly enough, I got it to escape the trauma of Betty but there was also child abuse in this one! (TW btw) It follows an unnamed character with an critical father who makes his daughters endure tortuous trials; it’s not made clear who this is and how it relates to the other storyline until 25% through the book. The other plot follows a straight laced older sister going to find her younger sister at a 6-month “self improvement program” and confess some dark secret. Obviously things aren’t what they seem and shenanigans ensue. Low stakes read, seemed partially inspired by the NXIVM cult. Decent twist. It was fine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
shereadsmysteries's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Abandonment
Additional content details: Cults, cult mindset, brainwashing, assisted suicidethelovelylibrarylady's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
While I have seen lots of people rave about This Might Hurt, it just didn't work for me. This book has some aspects that I usually love to read about including a fictional cult, a strained sibling relationship, and a New England setting. However, even my favorite topics/settings could not save this one. The plot for this story was all over the place and many of the resolutions felt contrived - especially the last scene of the book which was frankly ridiculous. I do still have Wrobel's debut novel, Darling Rose Gold, on my reading list, but I am in no hurry to pick it up after finishing this lackluster title.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
krys_kilz's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was an absolutely searing and timely exploration of wellness culture and family secrets packed into a suspense filled thriller. The desperate desire for an easy answer to explain all pain away along with the toxic, hierarchical, and manipulative relationships at this story's core truly encapsulated the cult-like mentality of many self-improvement and wellness retreat ventures. Throwing this in sharp relief against the similar longings for love, belonging, and acceptance even at the expense of excusing abuse that make up many family dynamics was truly a stroke of genius. A very fresh meditation on power and groupthink!
The twists and turns were shocking and the ending preserved the novel's overall dark and unsettling mood. I just love thrillers that combine astute social commentary with complex characters and page turning anticipation. Wrobel delivered that with This Might Hurt.
tw: child abuse, cult, emotional abuse and manipulation
The twists and turns were shocking and the ending preserved the novel's overall dark and unsettling mood. I just love thrillers that combine astute social commentary with complex characters and page turning anticipation. Wrobel delivered that with This Might Hurt.
tw: child abuse, cult, emotional abuse and manipulation
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Body horror
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Cancer
Minor: Addiction and Fatphobia
thebakerbookworm's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
While this book was well-written and I didn't get bored with the story, unlikable characters and a frustrating ending (to me) pushed this book into the "meh" category for me.
We have three narrators: Natalie, Kit, and an unknown voice, who we see in flashbacks from childhood to adulthood. Of the three, I felt like I got to know the unknown voice the best. Natalie was flat the whole time, which was frustrating to me because at the beginning, she's our main character. But she gets no development or real complexity and I found myself not caring what happened to her. We get to know Kit a little better, but I found her more annoying than endearing. The third voice gets the most development, and though I soon guessed who this narrator was, she's still interesting. But how the ending plays out just made her story seem pointless to me. There are other side characters that are interesting at first, but again, they are all pretty flat.
The plot jumps around from present to past, but I actually thought this format worked for the story. I think I was mainly just annoyed by the ending; I felt like it was building up to something and then it didn't end up having a release. Also, there are a lot of *icky* things that happen in the story that unnerved me and I'd really rather not read about those kinds of things...
Lots of people have loved this one; it just wasn't for me. I do think it's well-written though, so it's not falling into the "I hate this" category lol. Just not one I can recommend without caution.
We have three narrators: Natalie, Kit, and an unknown voice, who we see in flashbacks from childhood to adulthood. Of the three, I felt like I got to know the unknown voice the best. Natalie was flat the whole time, which was frustrating to me because at the beginning, she's our main character. But she gets no development or real complexity and I found myself not caring what happened to her. We get to know Kit a little better, but I found her more annoying than endearing. The third voice gets the most development, and though I soon guessed who this narrator was, she's still interesting. But how the ending plays out just made her story seem pointless to me. There are other side characters that are interesting at first, but again, they are all pretty flat.
The plot jumps around from present to past, but I actually thought this format worked for the story. I think I was mainly just annoyed by the ending; I felt like it was building up to something and then it didn't end up having a release. Also, there are a lot of *icky* things that happen in the story that unnerved me and I'd really rather not read about those kinds of things...
Lots of people have loved this one; it just wasn't for me. I do think it's well-written though, so it's not falling into the "I hate this" category lol. Just not one I can recommend without caution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
cait_reads_and_drinks's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent