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ofpagesandparagraphs'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
2.5
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Medical content, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Car accident
dmariefern'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? It's complicated
4.25
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Grief, Miscarriage, Bullying, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Body shaming, and Medical trauma
readingwithbec'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
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Death, Violence, Mental illness, Car accident, and Animal death
meliemelo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It's not a bad crime novel, and there were definitely some very good ideas in there, but it definitely doesn't compare to the author's previous works.
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Car accident, Death, Dementia, Violence, Alcoholism, Incest, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Body shaming, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual assault, Cursing, Infidelity, Rape, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Death of parent
nadias_littlelibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Sexual harassment, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism
Minor: Animal death
thefictionalhevschwar'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
2.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, and Rape
sleeson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Cursing, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Car accident, Alcohol, Violence, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
juci's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The story is complex enough that it kept me engaged and interested in trying to figure out the mysteries and find the missing pieces by myself. Without giving any spoilers, I just want to say I appreciated that while some parts of the puzzle were easy to put together, there were a few twists throughout the book, even towards the very end, which caught me by surprise. In the end, I felt satisfied when everything finally clicked.
Most of the characters are quite unlikable in my opinion, but that feels intentional - they’re raw, imperfect, and complex. There aren’t clear “good” or “bad” characters, which I appreciate. It gives more depth and realness to the story.
I also like Hawkins’ writing style and found the nonlinear timeline (constantly jumping back and forth in time to tell the story) fitting for this novel. It’s funny that at one point one of the characters is reading another character’s book and criticizes this exact style of writing, saying
“Like the last one, that awful crime thing. Just start at the beginning, for God’s sake. Why couldn’t people just tell a story any longer, from start to finish?”
Then Hawkins proceeds to do that exact thing again, jumping back in time to give us another piece of the puzzle. This is just a small thing that stuck with me, but there are lots of small lines like that in the book, which I found pretty clever, and I thought they gave another layer to the novel.
All in all, an enjoyable read, and I’d definitely recommend it.
Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Murder, Child death, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, and Cursing
Minor: Incest
thebakerbookworm'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
First off, Rosamund Pike doing the narration was fantastic! I was captivated the whole time and I loved her different voices for the characters. I highly recommend going the audio route for this one!
Secondly, the characters, though not really likable, were interesting and succeeded in making me feel empathy for them, even if I was annoyed with their choices. Though I must say, they've all been through A LOT of trauma, so beware the content warnings. And I think most of them even got some nice development over the course of the story. Not a ton, but enough to where they look different by the end.
The mystery and plot were compelling enough to keep me reading. I managed to figure out some things, so I was a little disappointed that I wasn't very surprised by the ending, but I still liked how it wrapped things up for the most part. Overall, a really good quick thriller if you're looking for something to get lost in for a while.
Thanks so much to Libro.fm, Penguin Audio, and the author for my ALC!
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, and Alcoholism
Minor: Dementia, Rape, and Animal death