Scan barcode
mempereur's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy
samlopez93's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Car accident, and Child death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, and Stalking
roxfoxreads89's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
alangmaack's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
Graphic: Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Death, Bullying, Murder, and Toxic relationship
lizreaderhold's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence
peachxslime'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
3.5
Moderate: Grief, Death, and Child death
Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Dementia, and Abortion
aaronreadsatad's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Death, Blood, Grief, Drug use, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Cursing, and Violence
Minor: Abortion
lillyrose97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Self harm, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Sexual content
mepresley's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
This is Blythe's story, and the story of her mother, Cecilia, and Cecilia's mother, Etta. Etta, who was
Blythe has ambivalent feelings about becoming a mother because she does not want to be like her mother, or her mother's mother. She wants to be better but is afraid that she won't be, that she doesn't know how. When Violet is born, Blythe does not feel that immediate bond between mother and child.
The story is told out of chronological order, shifting between Blythe's memories, one short chapter focused on Etta's POV, and seven on Cecilia's childhood, the latter two presented in italics.
Blythe's story contains
I found Blythe to be a very sympathetic character, and--aside from Blythe's "adopted" mom, Leda Ellington, and Gemma--
The extremely clever
Other than my personal preference for chapters that aren't so uniformly short, the only thing that I think would have made this novel better is if there was more doubt about Blythe's sanity/ perspective and Violet as potential psychopath. The only doubt that exists is in Blythe's head, mostly due to the natural denial of a mother and Fox's gaslighting; it's very, very clear that Violet is guilty, which takes some of the wind out of the sails of her eventual window confession. Also, I do really wish that had gotten the details about what happened to Jet & what the aftermath of that looked like, but I fully recognize that the ending Audrain chose is more powerful than the details I longer to get, and that my very desire for those details is testament to Audrain's storytelling / my investment in her narrative.
Graphic: Abortion, Mental illness, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Infidelity and Death of parent
Minor: Self harm
claire_reardon's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Bullying, Death, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Infidelity, Suicide, Child death, Grief, Abortion, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship