Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - In My Dreams I Hold a Knife

I can’t believe Mint killed Heather because he thought it was Jessica. I also can’t believe Mint and Jessica just let her die. They did nothing to save her. They are literally perfect together. I can’t believe that Cooper still wants her even though he’s a good person and she is most definitely not. Also I can’t believe Mint kept dating Jessica even after he thought he killed her!! Wtf. Why didn’t he break up with her if he hated her so much. Also what was he planning on telling Jessica when she ran after Cooper in the present day Homecoming…

All the people in this book are really shitty. They make terrible life choices and only think about themselves. They all need therapy.

Jake cheated on Heather throughout their relationship with Frankie. Frankie cheated with Jake. Mint KILLED Heather and never truely loved Jessica just liked being admired by her. Cooper cheated with Jessica. Heather threatened to expose Frankie for taking drugs and wanted to expose Jake for being gay. She also lied about how much work she put into her life and drove Jessica mad. Caro stalked her friends because she wanted to be included in everything. Jessica let Heather die and cheated on Mint. What a shitty group of friends.

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awkwardimagination's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

(these may be spoilers, but i dont know, ill keep it vague)

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.

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meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

4.25

I'm not going to lie, for the first 60-70 pages of this book, I wasn't enjoying it which made me sad because I absolutely ADORED "The Last Housewife" by this author. I was almost going to DNF it, however, in "The Last Housewife" I also didn't enjoy the first 60 or so pages so I thought I'd give this book the same courtesy and I'm so glad I did.

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.

And as I was reading, I couldn't help but notice that Mint and Jessica kind of parallel each either. Both are concerned with image and status and it's pointed out a couple of times in the book that both view each other superficially. Mint views Jessica as "the good girl" who will stay loyal to him no matter what. And Jessica views Mint as "the golden boy" to elevate her status as she strives for her father's dream. It's also important to note their parental situation and the fact that both their fathers are dead. I'm glad that the author pointed that out in the end. That they're two sides of the same coin.

I got the twist about halfway through the book however it was still fun to see how things unfollowed. It was so crazy!

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)

However, I don't encourage Jack's cheating on Heather with Frankie at all. I feel like this has become normalized, but I honestly can't stand it when it's portrayed that a closeted person cheats on their significant other with someone else. Cheating is cheating regardless of the reason behind it (except in abusive circumstances). He still hurt her and I cannot stand for that. And I also don't condone Coop's cheating on Caro as well as Jessica's cheating on Mint (as bad as Mint was).

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.

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toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

So I'm like a year late to the party with this one, but better late than never. I was so scared that this wasn't going to live up to my expectations and yet it exceeds them all. I love morally ambiguous characters and this book is chock full of them, down to the main character who is at once intriguing and insufferable.

My experience with this book was strange because I read the first 140 pages on Friday, then I didn't read for most of the weekend, and then read the rest of it in one sitting on Sunday night. Before I even knew that I'd been sitting there reading it for that long, it was nearly 4am, and I needed to know what happened with this shady ass group of friends. I was so entranced by the drama of it all - and the dual timelines were CRAZYYYY well done. This book read like a movie. I fucking loved it. I saw none of the twists coming but in retrospect they were right in front of me the whole time.

Anyway this is your sign to pick this up if you haven't already and are late to the party like me.

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mysterymom40's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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sarah984's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This book really felt like a paint by numbers thriller to me. All of the characters are stock teen movie archetypes and the plot follows those archetypes exactly the whole way through. Also the editing really needed another pass: people's hearts "hammered" so often that I was thinking about starting a drinking game to fit the theme.

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