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blackferrum's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Mixed feeling banget buku ini. Ada bagian-bagian yang menurutku pribadi epic, ada sebagian lainnya yang terkesan overshowing sampai penyelesaian masalahnya terkesan biasa aja.
Bagian paling epic (dan mungkin paling kuinget sampai sekarang) menurutku waktu Mitch nanya, "Sekarang apa?" hmmm, karena di buku pertama tujuan Vic jelas apa dan ending-nya juga udah tercapai. Bisa dibilang, Vic hidup buat tujuan itu. Sekarang, lima tahun kemudian, dia mau apa? Eli juga udah "kena". Terus aku mikir, ini buku mau dibawa ke mana, ya? Eli secara teknis udah nggak bisa ke mana-mana. Kalaupun dia nongol, nggak bisa lagi jadi star seperti buku satu.
Well, mungkin agak terlambat. Ini bukan spoiler, yaw. Karena di bukunya jelas banget ini seri, jadi harus baca buku pertama biar paham gimana-gimananya. Even blurb di buku kedua juga ada keterangan Vic kenapa dan Eli kenapa.
Oke, lanjut dulu. Banyak banget bagian yang aku tandai. Sampai satu warna nyisa satu lembar aja wkwkwk oke super enggak penting. Intinya, buku ini jelas sempet bikin otakku huru-hara. Kemunculan LB baru, kemunculan LB lama yang nggak kesorot di buku satu, dsb, dsb. Penulis bikin konflik baru buat Vic. Jadi, walaupun tujuan utamanya bukan Eli lagi, dia tetap punya tujuan di buku kedua ini. Kasihan sama dia sebenernya, kayak apa ya dia sendiri tuh aslinya tersiksa dan apa yang dia lakuin ke LB-LB lain juga nggak bisa dibenarkan. Doi parah, sih. Pantes Sydney sedih Vic harus berbuat "sejauh" itu.
Ada banyak yang belum terjelaskan. Kayak, ofc, kenapa June tiba-tiba nongol dan bisa punya bonding kuat sama Sydney. Apa mereka pernah ketemu sebelumnya? Atau June punya hubungan khusus dengan Serena, kakak Sydney?
Ada juga ONL, gebrakan baru dari Stell, tapi duh, gore juga ini buku. Tag dewasa di bagian belakang buku (atas kode batang) nggak boleh diabaikan, sih. Mesti hati-hati banget. Sampe stres daku bacanya.
Bagian-bagian yang sayang banget adalah: aksi balas dendam Marcella. Yep, si LB baru ini kemampuan korosifnya nggak main-main. Kalo dia mau, dia bisa bikin orang (sampe ke baju-bajunya) jadi abu. Dan setelah diskusi dengan teman bacaku, kehadiran Marce di sini kayak angin lalu. Hal yang nggak konsisten sama blurb-nya. Siapa pun yang baca pasti ngira cewek ini datang sebagai saingan Vic-Eli. Well, enggak salah sih, tapi motivasinya nggak kuat. Malah kayak jalan sendiri-sendiri. Vic justru punya tujuan sendiri, Eli pun begitu. Marce malah kayak pengganggu nggak penting dan haus perhatian. Kalo selama ini LB menyembunyikan eksistensi mereka, Marce sebaliknya. Dia bangga jadi LB.
Marce tuh gambaran korban misoginis menurutku. Semasa dia hidup nggak dianggap, cuma jadi pajangan. Ketika ingin kasih ide dan pendapat malah disuruh diam. Jadi, ya saat tujuannya tercapai dia nggak bisa cuma melenggang gitu aja. Justru ini saatnya dia show-off. And sometimes it feel annoyed, actually. Bagian yang mengadudomba Vic dan Eli nggak lagi relevan karena tanpa Marce pun, Eli tetap akan kabur dan Vic akan tetap kejar dia.
Astaga susah banget mau reviu secara proper karena buku ini kompleks banget. Too much focuses. Banyak karakter dan masing-masing punya tujuan sendiri. Eh, pribadi maksudku, karena kan selain hubungannya antar karakter, ada goals yang mesti dicapai. Dan June adalah orang paling enggak jelas di sini. Maumu apa, hey, asalmu dari mana? :'(((
Jelas nggak nunggu buku ketiga terbit dan diterjemahkan, yang entah kapan omong-omong. Oh iya, terjemahan di buku ini 50:50. Ada bagian yang susah buat dipahami kalo nggak betul2 konsentrasi.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Body horror, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Animal death and Misogyny
megb64's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Drug use, Sexism, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, and War
Minor: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Child death, Police brutality, and Rape
idroplungs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Violence, Medical trauma, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Self harm and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing and Animal death
megj23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury
emrosch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I feel like the premise & first couple of chapters of this book promised it to be something different so I was a little disappointed in how it turned out. It wasn't a bad book tho! I still enjoyed it. Just wasn't what I expected.
I did however love how we got more insight on Eli's character, his thought process and beliefs.
Victor has become one of my favourite characters ever, I love him sm.
Graphic: Body horror and Death
frankieclc's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Torture, Animal death, Self harm, Murder, and Violence
blubonby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse
jkneebone'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
3.0
There is a lot happening in this book, and though parts of it were really interesting to me - we finally get some Eli POV and find out more about his history! - there was, for me, a bit too much going on, to the point that I found it a bit hard to know what to focus on. Eli and Victor's obsession with each other continues - Eli has visions of Victor's ghost and suspicions that he isn't dead, and once they're confirmed he wants to rectify that himself; Victor is determined to keep Eli from getting out of EON - but we also have Marcella's quest for vengeance against her husband/subsequent desire to take over the entire Merit mob, and the addition of EON as a source of conflict/potential fear for most of the characters. There's just a lot going on! I didn't find Marcella particularly compelling when contrasted with the other characters, and the sort-of role-reversal of Victor and Eli
It was still a quick and engaging read - although definitely not for those with a sensitivity to violence or graphic images, as there was even more gross and gory stuff happening in this book - but for me, lacked the delicious darkness of the first book. The characters were nasty, but the motivations felt muddied - and maybe that was the point, but whatever it was, it just didn't work for me as much as the first book did.
Graphic: Torture, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Blood, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Self harm, Animal death, and Medical content
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Animal death and Toxic friendship
jo_withabook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Death, and Murder