Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Summer's Edge by Dana Mele

10 reviews

slimepuppy's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This story starts like a typical "I Know What You Did Last Summer" murder mystery with all of its cliches and suspects... and then the first POV shifts happens, and the real fun begins. Even if I expected some of the twists, this book still caught me off guard a couple of times, and I think the final Emily chapter  delivers a brilliant closure - without it, I would have been sorely disappointed, but as it is I think the ending is beautiful, sad and haunting.

The characters are all extremely flawed, but I was still able to relate to their anguish - it definitely helps that all of them feel and sound very young, and that the dialogue is well written and the setting well established.

The only reason I can't give this book a 5 star rating is because the different narrators did sound a little same-y. I think Chelsea and Kennedy were different enough, but Emily was way too similar to both of their voices, and I was craving some change by that point in the book. Emily came across very differently when seen through Kennedy's eyes, and I wish her POV carried more of her earlier portrayal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Medical trauma

throwback682's review against another edition

2.5

I found this book really confusing and not very intriguing. I kept hoping the twist would be worth it but meh. I should’ve DNF’d  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying and Blood

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

swedishfrisk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is a cheesy young adult popcorn flick. The comparisons made on the book seem fairly accurate and it definitely blends reality with the supernatural. I struggle with how I feel about this book because it had an interesting premise starting out and then there were a lot of flashbacks and then when it ends you feel confused but can also piece some things together. I had trouble though differentiating the characters at times and felt like the book could have been far shorter to have more impact with its ending. I’m not sure we needed every single detail given. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

hollyk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

My brain is spinning, I'm shook to the core, there's not a hero and a villain so much as a group of flawed individuals. Absolutely riveting, jaw dropping, twisty, turny, and hard to put down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Vomit, and Classism

grichmond's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal death

simplyammee's review against another edition

sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The idea is good but unoriginal and this definitely isn't a great, fresh spin on it. The writing itself isn't bad, the twists are probably good if you don't pick up on the obvious hint in the blurb. It wasn’t so in my face obvious that I hated reading it, but it felt like the blurb spoiled any chance I had at actually being surprised. 

The "Haunting of Hill House" bit in the blurb is a bit too on the nose that it makes everything kind of obvious...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

_courtney's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

This book was incredible! So spooky and suspenseful and that plot twist was wild! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Kennedy sees ghosts and their descriptions can be upsetting to some

drowning is mentioned several times

Emily drugs everyone with Chelsea’s sleeping pills, she puts them in the wine, it’s also implied something was put in a bottle of wine Emily almost drank.

howlinglibraries's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 

The problem is that the living and the dead aren't meant to mix.
The problem is that I think the line has begun to blur.

Summer's Edge was pitched to me as "The Haunting of Hill House meets I Know What You Did Last Summer", and let me start off by saying that's actually an excellent pair of comps for this title. The book has the same "secret individual seeks revenge for a death with a suspicious story" vibes as the latter, with the bizarre, topsy-turvy feel of the former, all set in a lake house that often feels as though it has a mind of its own. If you're looking for an eerie YA thriller/horror tale this summer, Summer's Edge has you covered, and I think a lot of readers are going to be very enraptured by the twists and turns within these pages.

Unfortunately for me, there were a lot of elements of this story that did not work for me, with most of them boiling down to the writing and editing. I read an eARC of this, so hopefully these issues were fixed by the time the final edits went to print, but I found some glaring continuity errors (such as a character destroying an item on one page, and then having it in his hands, unharmed, two pages later) and there were some unlikely scenarios that I couldn't quite suspend my disbelief for. While some of those scenarios are somewhat explained later, avoiding tying up those loose ends struck me as incomplete and a missed opportunity to make this book a lot more solid than it was.

While I won't give any spoilers for the twists or the ending, I will say that I saw it coming, and while it was a trope I've enjoyed in many other pieces of media, I didn't love its execution here. That said, there were some redeeming qualities in a few of the characters and many quotable, creepy lines that I enjoyed (especially in the "in-between" short chapters in the first half of the book), and the atmosphere of the lake house was immaculate. Overall, Summer's Edge wasn't a story to write home about and I was a little relieved when it was over, as I think it dragged on a bit too long, but I'm still happy I read it and think it will be a big hit with a lot of summer thrill-seekers!

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: Chelsea is bi/pan (not specific); Kennedy is sapphic (unknown if lesbian or bi/pan) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

lisacanteven's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I don't typically read ghost stories, but if I had to get myself into a ghost story I'm glad it was this one. If you read and enjoyed We Were Liars, you will love this one. I, however, did not like WWL at all. I did think Summer's Edge was a lot better. The characters were a little more palatable. The narrator shifts so far into the book were tough to get used to, but at the end I see what the author was doing. I thought the ending was *chef's kiss* good. I did see part of the twist coming from pretty far away, but the author still got me with part of the twist. 

Read if you like:
>We Were Liars
>Pretty Little Liars
>I Know What You Did Last Summer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Toxic friendship