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moraofthestory's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gun violence
tinytrashqueen'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
4.5
Graphic: Racism and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Drug abuse and Death of parent
persimmons's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Stalking, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Blood, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, Genocide, Drug abuse, and Cultural appropriation
leslie_overbookedsocialworker'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Drug abuse
kellyhady's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Police brutality, and Racism
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
paolina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Suicide
amberinbookland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Stalking, Torture, and Violence
zoe_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
First up and most importantly: this was well written, the characters were developed well, there was an interesting plot. I absolutely cannot fault any of the basics of the book. The conflict I‘m facing relates to how I feel about the competently developed story. Thus, I would encourage others to check this book out for themselves should they find themselves interested in the plot.
My trouble isn’t even with the fact that the pacing is off. It‘s not the kind of thriller where you‘re trying to figure out what is going on, but it’s a sort of horror where you know something is really, really wrong and you’re just waiting for the big reveal. (I‘d say the reveal is so out there that it’s not really anything you could guess but, frankly, I did guess a lot of it. I actually overshot a little, if anything. This did not dampen my enjoyment.)
It’s not even really that I wasn’t a fan of the romance sub-plot. Though I wasn’t, I understood why Cole included it as a sort of safe-space but also origin of additional tension at the same time. It was quite effective at both (though I could have really done without the sex-scenes). I even liked both characters to an extent where I was sort of cheering for them to get together for a while, albeit more so that I‘d learn more about their backstories.
What I‘m most conflicted about was the one element that was done particularly well. Because Cole managed to paint such a horrible picture of Gentrification, I could really feel the horror that people who face it are dealing with. But then this horror turned into a major plot point
I do really appreciate what this book was doing, but that last 25% were... a lot. And I‘m not sure that „a lot“ was for the best of the story.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
unphilosophize's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I enjoyed reading it but it didn’t grip me
Really liked the social commentary
Can tell that Cole write a lot of romance
Ending was a bit unsatisfying
Good red herrings
Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Forced institutionalization
sarah984'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
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty, Dementia, Genocide, Slavery, Stalking, and Vomit