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samnash's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual content
amarahk's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
WARNING: RANT ABOUT EVERYTHING I HATED, INCLUDING SPOILERS.
I actually think that Jess was way worse than Mint. I don’t condone what he did but Jess was evil for cheating on him, even after what he told her. She didn’t express guilt once for being a cheater and her mindset throughout the book is disgusting. She really is a narcissistic sociopath, who doesn’t take accountability for anything. She was a horrible friend to poor Caro and an evil human being, to be honest. She seems like a psychopath because she didn’t care about the effects her actions have on others, she only cares about herself. As for Coop? He was likeable but he cheated on poor Caro. Also the fact that he loves Jess despite her evil doings isn’t cute to me, it’s weird. Caro isn’t completely innocent either, it’s kinda weird that she stalked her friends… There wasn’t really a single character who was likeable. The whole friend group was pretentious..
I feel like I read this all for nothing and I don’t recommend it tbh. It’s mainly because the ‘protagonist’ is so unlikeable, but maybe that was intentional and if so the author did a great job of portraying her as that.
TL;DR 3 stars is generous, main character is insufferable. It made me mad but I still wanted to read on, wasn’t worth the time though.
Moderate: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Classism, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Murder, and Drug use
Minor: Rape and Alcohol
aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Toxic friendship, Grief, Death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Bullying, Violence, Drug use, Death of parent, Gore, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking
Minor: Homophobia, Body shaming, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
erinmure5's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Rape, Addiction, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt
hdoomk'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
4.0
Minor: Sexual content
lilawsahar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Death of parent, Body horror, Drug abuse, Rape, Grief, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Homophobia, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Stalking, Religious bigotry, and Outing
awkwardimagination's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is (mostly) about entitled white people and their vanity and their inability to seek a decent therapist (i saw mostly bc two characters are poc), in the simplest terms. (i was wrong about jessica btw). Most of these characters were not likeable, they were all kinda horrible people. Except for Caro, who was like a little creepy, Jack, who was also a little creepy, and Frankie, who was probably the most normal motherfucker out of all of them (the diversity characters really got screwed over in the book). I liked the ending, and Jess in the beginning was likeable. Did not end how I thought it was gonna end and some things felt kinda convenient, but it was enjoyable.
I really dont think this book was for me, these arent the kind of characters i enjoy reading about.
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Blood, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Addiction, Body shaming, Car accident, Vomit, Cursing, and Religious bigotry
yafi'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
3.75
Graphic: Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Blood, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Drug use, Death, Classism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Addiction, Body shaming, Murder, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexism, Self harm, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
stevienielson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Drug use, Murder, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Rape, and Homophobia
Minor: Vomit and Sexual violence
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Although I wasn't enjoying the first 60-70 pages there was something about Ashely Winstead's writing that got me. It was like it was laced with something because I still read it pretty quickly. Same with the previous book that I read from her; I just really enjoy her writing. However, I think a big part of me not enjoying the beginning was that I felt like there were too many characters being introduced at once for me to imagine who was who.
After my rough patch in the beginning, I started to really enjoy the book and the things that went down. There was so much drama and secrets and that's what kept it so entertaining for me. There were so many crazy things happening. A lot (if not most) of the characters were unlikeable which isn't a deterring factor for me when it comes to a good book. I honestly think their unlikeability was the point. To point out that no one in that friend group was innocent as well as revealing the toxicity that engulfed them.
I also enjoyed the subtle subplot of romance in this book once I understood the dynamic because in the beginning I was confused about who Jessica was really falling for, but that becomes clear a bit later.
Overall, I had a good time with this book and that's honestly thing only thing one can ask for when you read a book! Also, I loved Coop! (and Jack and Frankie)
Side note: I saw some comments about the title. I'm not sure if this is a reoccurring theme in Ashely Winstead's book, but I've noticed that both the books I've read by her have titles that didn't have much to do with the book, but I have noticed that they do match certain scenes in the book. Like this title, "In My Dreams I Hold on a Knife" may reference the fact that Heather was stabbed 17x. Just a theory.
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Death, Violence, Abandonment, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, and Drug abuse
Minor: Drug use, Rape, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Homophobia, Outing, and Sexual assault