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talexandre's review against another edition
4.0
Holy cow this book was a wild ride from start to finish. Star crossed lovers, secret trysts, murders kept long hidden, and Boo Radley-esque villains hollering in the woods? This book’s got it all. It felt anachronistic at times because of the back woods traditions of a rural community, but all in all it was a thrilling and unpredictable read. Just when I thought i had it figured out, a new twist was revealed. I couldn’t put it down.
l1brarygirl's review
3.0
"She's Heather. I'm Ivy," I answered flatly. In nature, ivy and heather never grew together. They couldn't because ivy liked shade, whereas heather required sun. They did better apart because side by side, one withered.
Horrific and creepy.
qwordyq's review
3.0
This was going to be two stars because I didn’t really attach to the characters at all. Especially Heather, I just did not care for her at all and how she treated Ivy. However, it gained a star back for the twist ending. It’s funny because you think you’ve got it all figured out and I had the first two worked out long before in the book but the third one surprised me. The book isn’t bad, it’s got some decent creep factor going on for a ya thriller but it didn’t stand out as much as I would have hoped. There were some good twists and then there were some poor choices made in the writing that I didn’t agree with so it remains a three star. Some might like it and others won’t. I’m in the middle on this one.
plumeriade's review
3.0
this had a really great setting; and i feel it's worth noting that ivy, the mc, is half-mexican through her mother, which i don't think you see too often in main characters of the spooky horror ya for some reason. overall, i enjoyed this book.
however, some issues.
1. the big reveals -- yes plural -- came in a rush at the end and i found them hard to believe. there's not only one, not only two, but three different murderous psychopaths in this small community?
2. LESBIANS. I CALLED IT. i suspected from the start that heather was seeing a girl. so that was affirming and exciting. but also heather gets murdered so.. dead lesbians not so exciting.
3. the lesbian dies (one of them anyway) but the het romance survives the male character being sliced open twice with a sickle in the back and once in the head and spending an hour bleeding out. hmmmmm.
however, some issues.
Spoiler
1. the big reveals -- yes plural -- came in a rush at the end and i found them hard to believe. there's not only one, not only two, but three different murderous psychopaths in this small community?
2. LESBIANS. I CALLED IT. i suspected from the start that heather was seeing a girl. so that was affirming and exciting. but also heather gets murdered so.. dead lesbians not so exciting.
3. the lesbian dies (one of them anyway) but the het romance survives the male character being sliced open twice with a sickle in the back and once in the head and spending an hour bleeding out. hmmmmm.
eehoskins's review
4.0
Actual rating 3.5.
I enjoyed this book, but it didn't blow me away. The only action and suspense is all jumbled together at the end- I feel like it took too long to get there.
I enjoyed this book, but it didn't blow me away. The only action and suspense is all jumbled together at the end- I feel like it took too long to get there.
bananna_cupcake's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
silkcaramel's review against another edition
3.0
"You don't stop loving a person because they have secrets. You make their secrets your own."
I have to say, I was expecting way more from the synopsis. This had the potential to be much better than it was and I'm just sad, because it's not a bad book overall, but it falls short in a number of ways. I love the dark, atmospheric feel of this book and there's something about a secluded community living in the forest and shutting out the 'outside' world that always creeps me out and that helped a lot in getting into the story. While trying to sell the idea of dangerous secrets we keep and how they can affect us, the book went in a very obvious direction from the start and, because of that, it tried to shock in the end, but ended up throwing the so-called plot twists in the readers faces without much context and a very poor explanation just so we wouldn't see it coming. And some of it still ended up pretty obvious to me. The pace was also off - it dragged a lot a first, with things happening too slow and trying to build up momentum for something everyone saw coming since the first few pages. And then, after the big thing happened, everything started to go so fast and like I said, without much development.
Ivy, our main character, is very very annoying - she feels like she always lives in the shadow of her cousin and best friend (who she's obsessed with, btw), but doesn't want to let go of her to live her own life when given the chance. Heather, the cousin, had her reasons (and one of the best plot-twists was related to her), but she was also kind of a bitch. I wasn't compelled to care much for either of them or any of the other characters.
Not even the ambiance could get me into the book and I finished it with the feeling that it could be more, but it wasn't. Thank you, next.
dreamweaver's review
dark
mysterious
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
the reveals of all of the mysteries were pretty unsatisfying, with the exception of the guy in the woods and who Heather was in love with because there wasn't really any reason to suspect them ahead of time. additionally, most of the superstitions had no real resolution; they were just flavor to the story
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty
caledonia's review
5.0
The ending had me for a moment because I was like wow kind of predictable and the the last 20 pages happened? And the first sentence of the last chapter? bruh. I am in love. The writing is hands down some of the most beautiful I have ever read. There are so many sentence that i have highlighted. So many of the words used were very simple, and I think that is what made the writing so much better because she used child's language to come across how fucking heart breaking losing a best friend is. The characters were a little stretched and their town/way of life, but I didnt care because they were lovely to get to know, each bringing a unique element. I just have nothing short of love for this book. 11/10 I want to read again