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brotestantethic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
What fell just short for me was the main character Lena’s personality and stakes. She has high stakes for sure, but they are not built in a convincing way before plummeting into the horrors. Lena’s personality blossoms in the second act, consisting of letters written to her best friend Tanya; here, we get a hazy first person account of her journey. This section is full of personality, with words and grammar slipping into a diabolical haze of sickness and poor memory. This bit was, I will say, extremely hard to follow. But the heart is there, and the
Graphic: Gore, Chronic illness, Racism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Gun violence
mudlizard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Ableism, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical content, Confinement, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Terminal illness
Minor: Cancer
sarahdenn27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
nicolemhill'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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Medical content
habitualrereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma
Moderate: Racism
bookworm_ran'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Vomit
zenzi2read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Medical trauma, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror and Gaslighting
nikolas_fox's review
- 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? No
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, and Medical trauma
hillysreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Medical trauma and Medical content
ireadtoescape_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I was really drawn in by the plot as well.
But it all fell a little flat for me and I honestly struggled to finish it. There was no follow-through in most of these plot lines.
I also didn’t find myself connecting with Lena at all. I think her decisions and lack of suspicion for most of the book had me disconnecting from her. Especially in comparison to how her struggles at the beginning of the book really did pull at my empathy. She really was going through a lot and at first Lakewood made sense as a choice. Even when she had that eerie feeling it was mentioned once and that was that. But things just kept on going and going in this endless miasma of chaotic and alarming situations that I didn’t feel yielded much at all except to shock me as the reader. Nothing was resolved so it still makes no sense. The family history also didn’t go far enough to connect the dots.
I stuck it out but it wasn’t easy and I’m not feeling satisfied at all. Honestly, it was just an endless cycle of the experiments and their consequences to the people but to no specific end. I don’t know if it would have helped if the book was longer. But sadly, I couldn’t connect with it as much as I’d hoped.
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Cancer