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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
By the end I didn’t even care what happened I was just glad it was over
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was fine, the last half was better than the first. I feel like the characters should have been aged up a bit- I had a hard time believing any of them were actually 18 and just out of high school by the way they acted. I also felt like the physical affection among the friends was overdone. I've had friends for 10+ years that I wouldn't cuddle and kiss the way Goldie, Imogen and Ava do lol, not that there's anything wrong with that I just felt like it wasn't an accurate portrayal of adolescence friendships.
dark
tense
slow-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
TLDR; This book was bad. It wasn't a good mystery, nothing made sense and it was easy to guess who the killer would turn out to be early in the story. But the worse part for me was the toxic masculinity ingrained throughout the writing and plot of the book. The writing is also mind-numbingly stupid. At the end of the book you kinda wish that the story had taken place at different lakeside camp...one with a local ax-murderer.
This novel is basically an example of internalized misogyny. It's almost ridiculous how many examples pop up throughout the book. For example - the MC starts the story with a terrible secret (which was pretty easy to guess after about two flashbacks) where she decides that because she loves her boyfriend she'll take on this terrible burden while he distances himself and treats her like dirt, and lets the entire small community they both live in to treat her like dirt. Of course she still loves him. Because, that is how healthy relationships work? Throughout the book she continues to reflect on times when he was terrible, but they loved each other so much, and how great it is that he chose her, even though she is a nobody (of course). Even when all is revealed (including how basically everyone in the MCs life failed her entirely) she still loves him and everyone gushes about how much he loves her and did so much for her, even though all of his actions harmed the MC rather than helped her. And that isn't the only example of a woman taking some man's shit and acting like that is a normal loving relationship in the book. The three main characters are best friends, but also believe the worst about each other and their conversations revolve around the men in their lives and little else.
There is a tiny mention of one of the characters being bi in the very beginning of the book, but that feels like only a marketing ploy rather than something that has any bearing on the story whatsoever. This is a very binary-allo-hetero-centric book.
There are a lot of parts that went into the thriller/mystery aspect of the novel that really made me scratch my head. Like the MC signs a NDA at the beginning of the book...but her parents didn't know about it? It was signed within hours of an accident taking place...before the police even got involved? It was produced and signed by people who were possibly 18, with no lawyer? There are a lot of parts like that involving foreign bank accounts, money laundering, the discovery of embezzlement...somehow??, fake names to get work visas???? just so much stuff that I'm pretty sure the author knows perhaps next to nothing about, so much implausible stuff that it was impossible to take any of it seriously. Any scooby doo episode probably had more research put into it.
I nearly died at the end when the MC is so grateful that her male best friend tells her that he'd admit to the real story and she cries b/c how good he is treating her. Barf. Barf. Barf. So toxic.
This novel is basically an example of internalized misogyny. It's almost ridiculous how many examples pop up throughout the book. For example - the MC starts the story with a terrible secret (which was pretty easy to guess after about two flashbacks) where she decides that because she loves her boyfriend she'll take on this terrible burden while he distances himself and treats her like dirt, and lets the entire small community they both live in to treat her like dirt. Of course she still loves him. Because, that is how healthy relationships work? Throughout the book she continues to reflect on times when he was terrible, but they loved each other so much, and how great it is that he chose her, even though she is a nobody (of course). Even when all is revealed (including how basically everyone in the MCs life failed her entirely) she still loves him and everyone gushes about how much he loves her and did so much for her, even though all of his actions harmed the MC rather than helped her. And that isn't the only example of a woman taking some man's shit and acting like that is a normal loving relationship in the book. The three main characters are best friends, but also believe the worst about each other and their conversations revolve around the men in their lives and little else.
There is a tiny mention of one of the characters being bi in the very beginning of the book, but that feels like only a marketing ploy rather than something that has any bearing on the story whatsoever. This is a very binary-allo-hetero-centric book.
There are a lot of parts that went into the thriller/mystery aspect of the novel that really made me scratch my head. Like the MC signs a NDA at the beginning of the book...but her parents didn't know about it? It was signed within hours of an accident taking place...before the police even got involved? It was produced and signed by people who were possibly 18, with no lawyer? There are a lot of parts like that involving foreign bank accounts, money laundering, the discovery of embezzlement...somehow??, fake names to get work visas???? just so much stuff that I'm pretty sure the author knows perhaps next to nothing about, so much implausible stuff that it was impossible to take any of it seriously. Any scooby doo episode probably had more research put into it.
I nearly died at the end when the MC is so grateful that her male best friend tells her that he'd admit to the real story and she cries b/c how good he is treating her. Barf. Barf. Barf. So toxic.
Content Warnings
toxic masculinity to the nth degree, I wouldn't recommend it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Good suspenseful book
Feel like it could’ve had more suspense though
Feel like it could’ve had more suspense though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
slow-paced