Reviews with content warning for Murder - Dig Two Graves

I had looked forward to reading this because I liked Strangers on a Train and Do Revenge, but I hated it and found it problematic. Neve is very much ~not like other girls~ which I didn’t like. Her bi rep also varied between feeling forced and also reminded me of the harmful trope of a queer character obsessing over a straight character then lashing out after being rejected by the queer phobic straight character. Lastly, what frustrates me the most about this book was the heavy-handed suggestion that girls lie about sexual harassment. This is so harmful, not to mention the fact that research overwhelmingly shows that false claims of this are incredibly low.

That this was combined with incest is especially disgusting and problematic when you think of how many incest victims are in the age audience the book targets. While they’re not technically biologically related, they’re still legally siblings. Diane lying about being sexually harassed by her stepbrother when in reality she was actively choosing to be with him just screams of the myth that girls who say they’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted secretly wanted it. No, just no.

Content Warnings

junefish's review against another edition

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dark fast-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

3.0

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jax00's review

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emotional 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

3.25

I was really enjoying it until the end. The main character was "not like other girls" and constantly brought it up. The cops were also pointless throughout the book. However, I liked the Strangers on a Train plot. The fact the main character was bi, also seemed like it was forced and not just a character trait.

Why was it incest? It would have been 4 stars if it was just two siblings. Technically they're not related, but they grew up together.

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antimony's review

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Loveable characters? No

3.5

this was fun!! i enjoyed reading it and i do love the murder swapping plot (i wish it was a common trope rather than specifically referencing strangers on a train bc i enjoyed it here and in you owe me a murder). the twist at the end first seemed kinda unbelievable but it was still fun. which is what matters.

however i did kind of have issues with the characters. neve was in turns fun and annoying (i liked her sometimes? but she acted like a 15 yr old not a 17 yr old). inara's unexplained refusal to use "i" and "you" got on my nerves. like what was the point of it at all....? i did not like how much lying about sexual harassment there was (from both diane and javier). and charlotte...i could not STAND charlotte. why was she so cryptic all the time? i would have liked her to at least say ONE useful thing to neve.

overall those kinda cancel out and average to a mediocre 3 stars. so if you don't care about annoying characters and like fun murder plots you will enjoy this!!

Content Warnings

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.0

It was just meh. Quite predictable.

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