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costellar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder
Minor: Body shaming and Bullying
onthelam'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
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pedophilia
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol
bookmark3brodi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
ginnymay's review against another edition
2.0
I love new and original fairy tale retellings, dark fantasy, and gothic horror. By that metric, this should have been my new favorite book. It is decidedly not.
When we had a monster murderer introduced I was hoping for something like Carnival Row, but this story seems to have lacked an outline or plan of any sort as it forgets about the mysterious murders for large swathes of time to the point where, when a victim is discovered at the theater, I genuinely had the thought “Oh yeah that’s a thing” because I had genuinely forgotten about the MURDER MONSTER.
The bulk of the meandering narration for 75% of the novel can be summarized as: Marlinchen’s sisters are pretty and she’s ugly, her dad is abusive and they hate him, her mother is dead, she makes food, she thinks the dancer is sexy, she is called stupid and mindless, she is depressed and fantasizes about cutting off her nipples. It makes Marlinchen one of the most tedious narrators, as the first new information unveiled in her POV isn’t until after several hundred pages of this when it’s suddenly revealed that she was repeatedly SA’d as a minor by a medical professional while her father watched and was paid for it.
Then Reid tried to tie it all together with an insta-love trauma-bond romance and then reveals an answer to the murders that required some rewriting of history to make it work.
And all this just left me with more questions than answers. How did Marlinchen never notice that her Father’s powers had waned? How did she not notice for SEVEN years that her sisters were being trafficked? How, if she and her magically imbued sisters all had power and violently hated their father, did they never find a way to overthrow him or at least rebel against him? How did Marlinchen not put together that she was missing huge chunks of time when murders were taking place? How did she not question where the hearts and livers she served to her father came from? How did they have sex on the floor covered in broken glass and not need insane amounts of medical attention?
All in all, a bewildering, poorly written, deeply upsetting, and just bad book.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
yomireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a well conceived and deeply disturbing story that's intoxicatingly written. Each plot reveal was loaded with expecting foreshadowing, and by the end I was utterly speechless at the reveals. Well worth the read.
My drawbacks play into my personal tastes and aversions. From the first chapter sex plays a much larger part in the story than I anticipated. And while the story does explore romance to some degree it's done as a means of allowing for character growth and insight to their traumas. Even so I always have a difficult time when a book ventures down this plotline. Additionally, I was expecting something a bit more magic heavy, and was deeply intrigued by the different types of magic each sister possessed. I was disappointed not to get more of it.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Confinement
Minor: Pedophilia and Death of parent
natalie1227's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I loved the narrator's voice and they made it very pleasurable to listen to. I am also reading another book by the same author and I am enjoying it more so I might just not be a horror fan.
Overall it was an ok experience and will definitely be reading more Ava Reid books.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, and Eating disorder
wizardowl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Classism
abception's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Grief, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Alcohol
ellynscoffee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The writing style and story telling were great, my only gripe was some of the slower pacing towards the middle, although this didn't last long.
The gore aspect of this story was probably the most uncomfortable for me to read, but it was easily skimmed over and did not feel unnecessary.
The ending is incredibly satisfying, however I did feel that the reveal of the mystery was a little rushed (but perhaps this is more because we see everything from Marlinchen's perspective).
Overall, I loved and really enjoyed this bleak, grim retelling
EDIT: It has been several days since I finished this book and I cannot stop thinking about it. I think I will have to fold and change this from my original 4/5 rating to a 5/5 because it really hit me harder than I thought.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
jehold2010's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Cannibalism