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wombat'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
3.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
whitneyonline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent
reading_binosaur's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
lilifane'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
abbeyhuffine94's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This novel unravels a bit at a time and takes a deep dive into a family split by tragedy and reveals an antagonist that is the definitive manifestation of evil. I was shocked, like jaw dropping to the floor shocked, on several occasions. I even felt tears well up at certain parts of this book. I think it gives such a hard hitting account of grief, psychological agony, and unspeakable cruelty. You will feel as broken as the characters at some points - I think you feel their pain, hurt, confusion, and betrayal. The cruelty they suffer is bone chilling and stomach churning. I mean, seriously, how can someone do enjoy the suffering of innocent others as one of these characters does?
That all being said, I was devouring this novel, wanting to explain this mystery along with them and wanting to understand these horrible events. I mean it is shocking and you want to know who, what, how, WHY.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicide, Police brutality, and Car accident
traumaqueen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
missmichalalynn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
perplexed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
I will say now that there might be some spoilers in this review, and I'll flag them, but proceed with caution. Also TW: I reference SA and violence in this review
There were elements of this book I loved. The whole idea of "how well do you really know someone" is a trope I love to see explored, and this book started off doing that really well. I also really loved the main characters, Claire and Lydia, and part of the reason I finished the book was because I wanted to make sure they got out of their shenanigans okay.
That being said, so much of this book felt like gratuitous detail. I get that you want to make it clear how brutal something is, but you could get that without needing to graphically describe acts of SA and torture. I love body horror and gore, but the repeated graphic descriptions were *a lot* and I really recommend giving this book a skip if you're effected by any of the trigger warnings mentioned on these reviews.
Also, shout out to the fact that either Claire or Karin Slaughter thinks that TOR is an illegal file sharing site. Very much legal, it's just a browser like Google Chrome but it doesn't track you, so I think TOR is actually the real good guy in this book.
PS. Dad if you're reading this hello, please don't judge me for the books I've been reading recently, I've been on a kick of gross books ever since American Psycho but none seem to scratch the itch of violence with a message and they've all just landed on gratuitous violence instead :-( onto a Christmas romance novel next though so, bet you can't wait for that review!
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
jadelorraine03's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder
lycheejelly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail