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alyssan's review against another edition
2.0
this just really fell flat for me. it honestly jsut felt like a whole lot of nothing and a bunch of hinting at disturbing things without any actual exploration. meh.
j3mm4's review against another edition
2.0
For something billed as a retelling of Hansel and Gretel, there are always certain expectations - neglectful parents who abandon the protagonists in the woods, a woman who takes them in for nefarious reasons, a boy who loses himself to her control and a girl who defeats her to save her brother. Certain elements can be reframed, reshaped, reimagined - here there is no mother, and the father doesn't abandon them because of poverty, but because he's an egomaniac who resents their childhood for not representing him the way he wants to be seen and the life he wants to live - but choosing to make Josie the point of view character and then making her spineless, guileless, without any real internal grit or meaning saps all the interest out of the story. Worse, there's that irritating "all stories with siblings and vague gothic themes MUST include the suggestion of inc*st" bugbear that doesn't add anything to the narrative. If anything, Jack loses himself to the ghost of his father and the patterns he laid out - violent, egotistical, loving his sister only for what she represents about him, using women who make him feel special and then loathing them when they discover how disappointing he truly is - rather than a witch, and while that could be interesting, it doesn't pan out in a satisfying way. Josie returns home to find that her father has seduced another of his students into dropping out after she got him what he wanted and ruined the life he thought he deserved, and we get this shallow little girl power moment of her refusing to give him information about Jack, deciding she can do whatever she wants - but she still came back. She traded one newer toxic pattern for the old one, and by the time this one stales again, I can't imagine her discovering anywhere else to go on her own or any new life for herself. It was just a long, meandering, shapeless blah of a book. It's only not a one because the concept, if better executed, could have been really fun to read.
victory's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Not a great book on first read. But I think I wasn’t in the mood for the genre. So I will eventually re-read it.
vanessavanderburg's review against another edition
4.0
This book kept me interested and intrigued to see what would happen with Josie and Jack. Their relationship was intriguing as it obviously lacked many boundaries and normality that most sibling relationships have. Although Jack had many negative controlling qualities he was my favorite character as he kept things interesting. Josie's character was a bit disappointing because she allows Jack to control her fate throughout the entire book. It seems she just floats along the entire book, following Jack and rarely taking any initiative for her own life, until the very end of the novel. She also lacked personality it seems because her inner dialogue focused so much on Jack that you never really get a sense of who she is, especially with her small amount of (mostly boring) dialogue in conversations with other people. The ending of the book was not something I expected and although it was dark and grim, I didn't mind it. Four out of five stars.
breen's review against another edition
2.0
I literally just told myself to stop reading books that are only about someone being miserable and what did i do? I read this.