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julia11's review against another edition
4.0
I buddy read this with some friends and I really enjoyed the ride. I did not see a lot of the twists coming and it held my attention. The first bit was a little slow, and honestly both mothers in this got on my nerves. But once it picked up, I couldn't stop! We all finished the book early cause we had to know the ending.
I'd recommend checking trigger warnings, this does have a pretty heavy topic involved.
I'd recommend checking trigger warnings, this does have a pretty heavy topic involved.
julia11's review against another edition
4.0
Jules gets into a terrible accident with her son, Gabe and a neighbors child, Isaac. Jules life unravels after she loses Gabe. All the while, Isaacs household is dealing with his survival. He goes into a depression and its tearing his parents, Amber and Mark, apart seeing him so out of sorts. He ends up going missing. Amber is convinced it was Jules, but Jules is adamant she had nothing to do with it. We go along for the ride as they try to find Isaac before it's too late.
I buddy read this with some friends and I really enjoyed the ride. I did not see a lot of the twists coming and it held my attention. The first bit was a little slow, and honestly both mothers in this got on my nerves. But once it picked up, I couldn't stop! We all finished the book early cause we had to know the ending.
I'd recommend checking trigger warnings, this does have a pretty heavy topic involved.
I buddy read this with some friends and I really enjoyed the ride. I did not see a lot of the twists coming and it held my attention. The first bit was a little slow, and honestly both mothers in this got on my nerves. But once it picked up, I couldn't stop! We all finished the book early cause we had to know the ending.
I'd recommend checking trigger warnings, this does have a pretty heavy topic involved.
hannahurky1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
I don't really know where to start with this. It starts off as your typical mystery, Isaac Greer goes missing. But here's the catch, he survived a cat accident with Jules where her son died instead of him. This makes him loose his mind with survivors guilt. Then all of a sudden he's gone. Was he kidnapped? Did Jules take him? Did he run away? You don't know until the end. And that ride is insane to say the least. But the twists really started near the end. It felt like everything just hit me all at once. It was good, but also like extremely weird. My jaw was left open the entire time at the end. And honestly the end of the book just made me dislike every single character. But it was good and kept me guessing. And I honestly did not expect the ending at all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mass/school shootings
bookish_withsky's review against another edition
4.0
Lucinda Berry books feel like a fucked up guilty pleasure. I don't know how else to explain it. Everyone is bonkers and fucked up. It never goes exactly how you expect it to. If I didn't have to work or sleep, I'd probably have finished this immediately, but alas, I decided to start it at 12 am knowing full well I had to sleep and work. I think that worked to my benefit though. I seems like the kind of book you wouldn't like as much if you didn't have space from it.
yensidsunflower's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
linnaboobooks's review against another edition
3.0
Content warnings for car accident, loss of a child, grief, grooming, suicide attempt, school shooting.
Lucinda Berry's novels need to stop being only marketed as psychological thrillers. The more recent ones I've read might fall under the requirements to that subgenre of thrillers somewhat, but they more so focus on psychological and cerebral aspects with touches of a criminal case. This can skew expectations versus when reading the synopsis. Personally, I find this to fall into the psychological suspense category, the same way some of Sally Hepworth's works do.
After an accident that left her only child dead, Jules forms a strong connection with a former friend of his in her unstable mental state. After a series of uncomfortable incidents, Isaac's parents step in with a restraining order and not long after Isaac goes missing. Now she's in a group home, under the observation of a therapist.
Believed to be taken by a midwestern serial killer, it's hard to swallow that the teenager who has already been through one tragedy is going through another. And during this time Isaac's mother's Amber believes Jules is behind why her son's missing, and that it has nothing to do with the serial killer.
The suspense of Isaac being missing kept me speeding through this with a few different theories, I wasn't as invested in Jules's plot but the psychology of it interested me enough and disturbed by how unstable she became since the death of Gabe.
Lucinda Berry's novels need to stop being only marketed as psychological thrillers. The more recent ones I've read might fall under the requirements to that subgenre of thrillers somewhat, but they more so focus on psychological and cerebral aspects with touches of a criminal case. This can skew expectations versus when reading the synopsis. Personally, I find this to fall into the psychological suspense category, the same way some of Sally Hepworth's works do.
After an accident that left her only child dead, Jules forms a strong connection with a former friend of his in her unstable mental state. After a series of uncomfortable incidents, Isaac's parents step in with a restraining order and not long after Isaac goes missing. Now she's in a group home, under the observation of a therapist.
Believed to be taken by a midwestern serial killer, it's hard to swallow that the teenager who has already been through one tragedy is going through another. And during this time Isaac's mother's Amber believes Jules is behind why her son's missing, and that it has nothing to do with the serial killer.
The suspense of Isaac being missing kept me speeding through this with a few different theories, I wasn't as invested in Jules's plot but the psychology of it interested me enough and disturbed by how unstable she became since the death of Gabe.
annesalwaysreading's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely didn’t see the ending coming. It was so screwed up but also in a way that I couldn’t put the book down. 3.5 almost 4
niedwns_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
thaiteconta's review against another edition
3.0
A vida de Jules se despedaça quando ela bate o carro em um lago e seu filho morre. Há um sobrevivente, outro menino chamado Isaac. Jules não tem motivos para viver, até que Isaac começa a visitá-la no hospital. Mas então Isaac desaparece e sua família está convencida de que é tudo culpa de Jules. Esse livro é um suspense de partir o coração, indutor de medo e cheio de tensão até o final. Esse livro invoca os piores pesadelos de pais - perder um filho - e causa um extremo desconforto.
No começo, achei Jules uma personagem fraca no plot. Mas, de repente entendi seu comportamento estranho em relação ao psiquiatra e fiquei pasma com o quão brilhante a autora foi ao me fazer pensar de uma certa maneira. sobre ela, e então mudando minha percepção. Também fiquei irritada com a mãe de Isaac no começo, mas até o comportamento dela fez sentido quando aprendi mais sobre ela.
O enredo é interessante e você precisava saber o que aconteceu ao mesmo tempo que não quer que o livro acabe. Lucinda Berry é mestre em descrever a vida interior dos personagens de fuma maneira sucinta. Ela entrega seu bacharel de psicologia todinho nesse livro quando consegue entrar na cabeça de pessoas com problemas de saúde mental.
Único motivo pelo qual esse livro acabou ficando com 3 estrelas é porque acho que o final - apesar do desfecho bem feito - deixou a desejar com relação ao suspense e a ânsia e a energia especulativa. Eu quase achei que havia mais um capítulo depois da última página porque termina de maneira abrupta. E eu sei que nem todo final precisa ser amarradinho para ser bom mas ainda haviam perguntas não respondidas e respostas que poderiam ter ficado no imaginário.
No começo, achei Jules uma personagem fraca no plot. Mas, de repente entendi seu comportamento estranho em relação ao psiquiatra e fiquei pasma com o quão brilhante a autora foi ao me fazer pensar de uma certa maneira. sobre ela, e então mudando minha percepção. Também fiquei irritada com a mãe de Isaac no começo, mas até o comportamento dela fez sentido quando aprendi mais sobre ela.
O enredo é interessante e você precisava saber o que aconteceu ao mesmo tempo que não quer que o livro acabe. Lucinda Berry é mestre em descrever a vida interior dos personagens de fuma maneira sucinta. Ela entrega seu bacharel de psicologia todinho nesse livro quando consegue entrar na cabeça de pessoas com problemas de saúde mental.
Único motivo pelo qual esse livro acabou ficando com 3 estrelas é porque acho que o final - apesar do desfecho bem feito - deixou a desejar com relação ao suspense e a ânsia e a energia especulativa. Eu quase achei que havia mais um capítulo depois da última página porque termina de maneira abrupta. E eu sei que nem todo final precisa ser amarradinho para ser bom mas ainda haviam perguntas não respondidas e respostas que poderiam ter ficado no imaginário.