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leweylibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
I did not enjoy reading it, I had to force myself to finish it for a book club, and I had sooo many issues with it that completely took me out of the story. Like her awful friends wtf??? They were horrible and I really hope they weren't inspired by the author's real friends lol. What kind of friends automatically ask if you've murdered someone or destroyed your own apartment?? I wanted to like the supernatural element, and it was one of the few things keeping me interested, but there could've been so much more done with it. I felt like a lot of the conversations, situations, and relationships just made no sense. I truly don't know how this was long listed for the National Book Prize. Like how.
Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Gore, Gaslighting, Death, Grief, Blood, Murder, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Drug use, Colonisation, and Racism
Minor: Pedophilia, Medical content, and Sexual harassment
zias's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Gore, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Gun violence and Suicide
m3l3fic3nt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Grief
cemetereality's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Gun violence, and Grief
cait808's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Rita is a sendup to haggard, perpetually tired girlies everywhere, and her commitment to doing the right thing is admirable. Every time she propitiated the phantoms in a long-suffering tone, I liked our everywoman heroine more, and the descriptions of her actual family and the family she found outside the reservation warmed my heart. I fw the final line of the book v much and it feels like a love letter to both the kind of child Rita was and the woman Rita has become.
I am tepid about the chapter shift between past and present day. Once it was used to great effect—a question coming up in a present chapter was immediately answered by the following past chapter—but otherwise I kind of felt like it was relying on cliffhangers to get me to keep reading.
Also as an aside, I wish I knew more about cameras—each chapter has a subscript of a make/model of a camera of importance to the focal point (hehe) of the chapter. The climactic chapters are simply labelled with an f-stop setting indicating an ever-widening aperture, ending in “wide open.” Neat!
I felt the ending was very rushed. The book needed more chapters to flesh out SEVERAL interesting character skeletons; but unfortunately we are left with:
- Garcia, who
- Armenta, who
- Erma! Would’ve loved more
- Always need more on Shanice—
no notes on Grandma though. now THAT’S what I call a grandma. the idyllic yet grounded description of
Solid book overall, would def read from this author again, especially bc of how she writes both old people and body parts strewn across an Albuquerque highway with such care.
Graphic: Death and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
eicart_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Car accident, Racism, Colonisation, and Grief
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal death, Terminal illness, and Bullying
hayleemarie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
mayhem9683's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Murder, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Gun violence, Alcohol, and Eating disorder
jourdanicus'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
4.5
The story was propulsive, with believable (if not overly deep) characters and a fairly tight plot. I enjoyed the back and forth timeline. Aspects of Navajo beliefs, culture, and family history/life were woven in to a crime drama which didn't rely too heavily on trope.
I'd recommend to anyone who has a strong stomach for gore, appreciates a "gritty," dry female protagonist, and/or whose guilty pleasure is police procedurals but agrees with ACAB.
Edit/note: read ebook + listened to audiobook
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Gore, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Colonisation, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
just_one_more_paige'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Murder, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment, Drug use, Racism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Child death, and Trafficking
Minor: Sexual content, Stalking, and Pregnancy