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thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Torture, Ableism, Murder, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
mangosugar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
alice, our protagonist, is a struggling filmmaker who’s been dreaming about figuring out the mystery of silvertjarn, “the lost village.” she’s got quite a lot of emotional attachment to it, seeing as her grandmother’s entire family disappeared along with the other residents and alice grew up with tales of the town and its descent into evil.
on her own, alice is not a particularly interesting or captivating character, but what does make her stand out is her dynamics with the other characters and her involvement in the mystery itself. she’s often overly emotional, though it’s understandable, and she’s just a walking “i’m trying the best i can” meme. my favourite thing about her is how honest she is with herself. usually, characters (and people) try to spin their mistakes and flaws around in order to justify them, but alice is really self-aware and i like her sincerity.
the other (arguably more present) protagonist is elsa, alice’s great-grandmother. the story moves between alice’s point of view in the present in certain chapters and elsa’s life sixty years ago, when silvertjarn began its own demise. those were honestly my favourite parts of the book.
unfortunately, the pacing is extremely slow. like i almost stopped reading many times bc i was so bored of the drawn-out tension. the last hundred or some pages fix that though, the action picks up and a very well-done sense of dread and panic sets in, it was very moving.
the plot-twist is pretty obvious, i don’t think it can shock many people, but it was coherent with the rest of the story so i still appreciated it. i was surprised at the very end though when an identity is revealed. it was actually pretty terrifying lmao the author did a great job as i said in creating an atmosphere of just pure frenzy, i finished the book on a crowded bus in the early afternoon and i was still scared shitless.
the secondary characters are alright lmao. with the exception of tonne, alice’s friend with her own connection to the town, i didn’t really care for them. i liked robert but we’re not given much from him, i just ended up with a lil crush 🧍🏽♀️
overall it was mildly entertaining though frustrating until the last 100 pages when things finally started happening, so i have it 3.5 stars, but i understand why some reviewers gave it less.
Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence
dylpickles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Brain washinggoatsrsexy's review against another edition
4.0
The mystery of the story is pretty predictable but I don't think that's a big issue. It's a very fascinating and sad story about fanaticism and about mental health. I did feel a certain characters 'psychotic break' that happened seemed a bit outlandish
Graphic: Mental illness, Bullying, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
ekmook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness
gingersnap85's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Emotional abuse and Sexual assault
marialise'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
2.75
The bad is...this book was bland. I know that this comes down to my personal preferences. I don't particularly care for books where the answer is that Man is a Monster, so I was hoping that this book was gonna be weird and mysterious, unsettling, but it wasn't. It's also in first person, which I don't like much either. I got to the end and felt absolutely nothing for this book.
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide attempt
greader's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Sexual assault and Mental illness
spacecadelliot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt
sorry_imbooked'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? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault