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chloe_catastrophe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Infidelity, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Addiction, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, and Suicide
minimicropup'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
Our MC is the youngest of three siblings with parents who don't really want to be parents, so they're often left in the care of their paternal grandmother. Our MC has a congenital heart condition that affected how others treated her growing up.
🇬🇧 Set at a large cottage on an isolated Cornish tidal island in 2004.
🎃 Set on Halloween night during a storm
🐺🐕Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags:
🔎 The majority of the plot was Arrested Development meets Clue. The single first person narrative works well to keep long-winded explanations and repetition to a minimum. We primarily get Daisy's insight, but we also get clues and POVs from the other characters based on their actions and the snappy dialogues. Everyone is literally a suspect at some point, even the deceased.
🏠 House layout included. Even at my grown-up age I love book illustrations, maps, and layouts accompanying stories. There is a lot of exploring and movement between rooms and since the majority of the plot takes place in the house (both present and past), it was nice to have words saved for the story and not for trying to describe the layout. [Small gripe: the North American copy used the term 'living room' for the 'lounge'].
👌 I loved the structure of the story, because it keeps things interesting and provides clues and creates suspense and mystery in a subtle way. We get the current murder mayhem, flashbacks from Daisy of growing up at Seaglass Cottage with her family intermingled with home videos showing things may not be exactly as everyone remembers, and creepy nursery rhyme excerpts (presumably from Nana's latest children's book) between each chapter.
😮 There is a twist I would normally be annoyed with because it's often used when a writer has cornered themselves. That wasn't the feel here, it felt like it was interwoven into the story and purposeful. This is on my re-read list because it'll feel like a different book knowing the ending. Some readers may have even predicted it because it isn't a side-swipe style twist that no one could figure out.
🧐 I spent a the beginning portion of the book thinking it was unbelievable that everyone purposefully placed a child that could require life-saving emergency services at any given moment on an island cut off from the world. As the story progressed it all made sense - all that family dysfunction, disregard for each other, and parental selfishness!
Mood Reading Match Up:
- Clues and puzzle plots
- Isolated, remote, closed circle mystery with people dropping like flies
- Dark and stormy night whodunit
- Hit of paranormal magical realism
- Nostalgic found-footage feels and childhood flashbacks
Content Heads-Up: Disability/chronically ill child. Child death. Alcoholism (recovery and relapse). Child abuse (violence).
Format: Paperback
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, and Chronic illness
bxnnny'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
4.0
Moderate: Death, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Gaslighting
nobeeny_bookworm'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Addiction, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
chtfc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Addiction
hmstumfoll's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Bullying
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Alcoholism
susie_bee'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault, Animal death, Gun violence, Fatphobia, and Suicide
lhodgson26'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Terminal illness
nialiversuch'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
2.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual content
emmajh91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Violence, Suicide, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Car accident, Blood, Bullying, and Death