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brittaanson's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is my new favorite mystery format! Sifting through documents to identify what is significant and what isn't, what might be left unsaid, etc. is a fantastic puzzle. Super engaging, but definitely a book that you'll want to give your full attention. I listen to most books on audiobook while doing other things, but this one I saved for when I had the time and mental energy to sit down and read in paperback with notebook and post-its at the ready. Reading on an eReader would also be a good choice, for easy keyword searches when you realize later that something someone wrote a while back may be important.
The emails and texts are written brilliantly, evoking clear personalities in their different styles. It's fascinating to read the difference in tone between a character's public email to a mailing list versus what they text in private to their partner, versus what they purposefully avoid sharing, despite you knowing they have the information in question from what another character wrote to someone else. All of the communication styles are very recognizable and realistic for their characters as well. This book is masterfully constructed, and sucked me right in. I couldn't put it down.
The emails and texts are written brilliantly, evoking clear personalities in their different styles. It's fascinating to read the difference in tone between a character's public email to a mailing list versus what they text in private to their partner, versus what they purposefully avoid sharing, despite you knowing they have the information in question from what another character wrote to someone else. All of the communication styles are very recognizable and realistic for their characters as well. This book is masterfully constructed, and sucked me right in. I couldn't put it down.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness, Cancer, Toxic friendship, and Murder
Minor: War, Sexual assault, Child death, and Violence
kefink's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Child abuse
photogenicegg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A very interesting way to tell a story. I enjoyed it, definitely thought I had it figured it out (or at least who it ~wasn't~). I liked the thorough investigation of different theories at the end and a complete explanation of the correct answer. Very much like solving one of those murder mystery boxes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Toxic friendship, and Terminal illness
Minor: Alcoholism, Murder, Medical trauma, and Mental illness
missgrangerr's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
LOVED this book! I am a huge fan of stories told in unconventional ways, so seeing this book being told through emails and texts was a huge draw. The story was well told and plotted. Highly recommend to fans of mysteries.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, and Addiction
jennboyack_scott's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, and Cancer
Moderate: Death, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Rape
Minor: Child abuse
ashley_turch's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
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
Formatting is interesting and fun. It takes a minute to get used to but is a nice change of pace. Makes it fun to annotate and highlight, but I found myself saying often “ok people don’t actually e-mail like that.”
Personally was disappointed in the ending. It didn’t feel realistic to me. Maybe the format didn’t allow me to fully picture the characters being capable of these things — the murder, that is. I definitely caught the other illegal things happening.
Would have liked a closer look into Issy’s mental illness issues. Plus why did Martin treat James like such shit? Left with some questions , but maybe that’s the point?
Personally was disappointed in the ending. It didn’t feel realistic to me. Maybe the format didn’t allow me to fully picture the characters being capable of these things —
Would have liked a closer look into Issy’s mental illness issues. Plus why did Martin treat James like such shit? Left with some questions , but maybe that’s the point?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Child death, Murder, Terminal illness, Child abuse, and Cancer
Moderate: Medical trauma, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility, Sexual assault, and Violence
Besides murder, most of the content is not super descriptive due to the nature of the book’s letter format. SA is discussed as something that happened in the past. Not graphic. Someone marked animal death/cruelty for this, but as someone who can never stomach that type of content, it ended up being totally fine. Calling it animal death was a stretch. (Explaining below - no major spoilers but hiding just in case)theinkwyrm's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
3.5
I really enjoyed the mixed media format that this book was told in, or at least I enjoyed it for the most part, although it seemed kind of anachronistic for them to use email as their main mode of communication (especially just between individuals) when this is supposedly taking place in 2018, when most people would be texting. Around the 2/3 mark where the main body of evidence ended and the more lawyer-y narrative took over I found it a bit repetitive even though I get that they’re supposed to be mimicking the readers’ thought process. It just got kind of slow and I still don’t really understand why the main lawyer was so interested in the case. I did really enjoy the overall reveal of who did it and why, even if the victim wasn’t who I was hoping it would be. Also, there were so many characters that I got them mixed up quite a bit, even with a character guide pretty close to the front. I’ll be interested to see if her other novel also plays with format.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness
dilani's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.0
A unique take on a mystery involving a wealthy family and their amateur theatre group. A sick 2-year-old, Poppy, needs a new type of medicine to battle her rare brain cancer. A new kind of medicine means it won’t be cheap. Luckily, her family creates an appeal to raise the necessary funds, but there’s something more sinister behind it all.
First time reading a full novel comprised of emails, text, and articles. There were a lot of people involved which made it hard to keep track of. I didn’t even know how to map out my theories, but I still enjoyed it. 🎭💉
First time reading a full novel comprised of emails, text, and articles. There were a lot of people involved which made it hard to keep track of. I didn’t even know how to map out my theories, but I still enjoyed it. 🎭💉
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Murder, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Mental illness
gillianengelbrecht's review
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Sexual assault, Cancer, Murder, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Infidelity
Minor: Suicide, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Bullying
hward's review
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, War, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt