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emily_mh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I just felt annoyed reading this book. Everything seemed to get on my nerves and this review is an attempt at explaining why.
It fell at the first hurdle with the main character, Emsy. I’m still appalled over that choice in name. I’m an Emily and have met plenty of Emilys and not one of them have called themselves Emsy! Emsy is like a jokey nickname your family calls you, not something to VOLUNTARILY attach to yourself. I couldn’t get past it the whole book. But my issue with the MC doesn’t stop at her name. She was super unlikeable. It wasn’t even her attitude to moving or her frustration with her girlfriend, both of which seemed understandable to me; I just did not like her. And this sentiment extended to pretty much all the characters. I usually don’t even mind unlikeable characters but for some reason this cast just did not work for me. A final note on Emsy (ick): her character development is not shown on page well; she does a sudden switch between wanting to leave and wanting to stay .
In terms of plot, the mystery was intriguing enough to keep my hooked and reading and was perfectly fine for a YA graphic novel. However, the ending was so abrupt. There was no real resolution concerning Emsy’s mum, girlfriend, or best friend . Also, I found it totally unrealistic that the adults would use the kids as bait without their knowledge, after all the fuss they kicked up over keeping them safe, and Ben having just gone through one of the most traumatic events that a human can. At the very least the adults could have clued the kids in on their involvement. But to be honest I find it unlikely that there wasn’t another way to flush the murderer out that didn’t have to involve the kids at all .
Finally, the art was mostly good but there were definitely some weird panels that didn’t look like they were meant to be the final version of themselves. So yeah, this book was not a hit with me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Medical content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content, Car accident, Abandonment, and Pregnancy
Major: sick parent Moderate: loss of a loved one
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