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lgoldfild's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
krittershausen's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
margaret002's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.0
booksinthesky's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
ireadboooks's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-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
4.25
allysavr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
sequoviah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
punkcalf's review against another edition
1.0
The only reason I'm giving it one star is because I did enjoy the writing style, that being said; the big reveal made my stomach churn and not in a 'woah-what-good-horror' type of way.
The story starts simple enjoy, Andrew moves away from his home after his friend from his youth reacts back to a Facebook message he send. The place he ends up living in, however, is a pit and his friend looks absolutely terrible.
A stark contrast to the people next door, who are the picture perfect image of a family straight from the '50s.
Before the twist; I had some issues with the pacing. It takes about 120 pages to actually go somewhere, and another 80 to get actually into the thick of it. I swear the big showdown near the end is only 5 pages long which, for a novel of this size [the book doesn't have much pages compared to others, but it's top to bottom with NOTHING but text, if it had different formatting I think it would hit 380/400 pages easily]. And it feels a bit of a let down.
The writing style is something I did like. However I did not like how the author refers to Andrew as Drew in the same sentence, It gets really tedious and annoying fast. The author also uses a special symbol to mark that the POV changed but quite a few times this symbol is forgotten.
I'm going to put the rest under a spoiler tag, but know that it made me very, very mad. This does 100% spoil the book so be warned;
What rubbed me the wrong way is the same reason why 'Thirteen Reasons Why' rubbed me the wrong way. It demonises a victim without delving into their hurt has genuine and valid. Timeline wise, I was a bit confused but I think Harlow grew up in the 60s/70s. She then continues to kill and maim up until present day because it 'soothes' her.
That alone really put me off. Victims of something that horrendous can delve into something deep and dark but it gets worse. See, Harlow turns into a rapist herself. She admits that she started to abuse her own son at the tender age of 10 (??????) and then she killed him because 'he wasn't doing it for her anymore' all while her husband watches and the author sweeps it under the rug like 'oh well, you know how your mom is, she has past trauma, just deal with it son'.
It's NEVER explained how her husband dealt with the death of their son, who he dearly and deeply loved up until that point. Did he just shrug it off, bury their kid and call it a day?
Nothing about Harlow is even a little redeeming, and having her sexual assault be a start of darkness without proper tenderness and care into the subject just feels wrong and disgusting somehow.
As for the characters; They're fine at first but then become beyond stupid. Mickey was the only one who was slightly likeable and that's saying something. Red is braindead, Harlow is basically 'just hot but also psycho', Andrew doesn't have two braincells to rub together and the damned ending:
I don't think this message is in any way good. Yes, this novel is not meant for children and yes, not every book needs to have a clear moral message. But I got from it that you better stay with your abusive family who will neglect you for years because the alternative may be worse. Just go back to them, what does their abuse matter? They're your family, you can't just bail on family."
I don't know, I just hoped it wouldn't come to this. I hoped the ending would be avoided and yet here we are. It's a shame because I don't dislike the authors writing at all. But this is just a novel that isn't it.
The story starts simple enjoy, Andrew moves away from his home after his friend from his youth reacts back to a Facebook message he send. The place he ends up living in, however, is a pit and his friend looks absolutely terrible.
A stark contrast to the people next door, who are the picture perfect image of a family straight from the '50s.
Before the twist; I had some issues with the pacing. It takes about 120 pages to actually go somewhere, and another 80 to get actually into the thick of it. I swear the big showdown near the end is only 5 pages long which, for a novel of this size [the book doesn't have much pages compared to others, but it's top to bottom with NOTHING but text, if it had different formatting I think it would hit 380/400 pages easily]. And it feels a bit of a let down.
The writing style is something I did like. However I did not like how the author refers to Andrew as Drew in the same sentence, It gets really tedious and annoying fast. The author also uses a special symbol to mark that the POV changed but quite a few times this symbol is forgotten.
I'm going to put the rest under a spoiler tag, but know that it made me very, very mad. This does 100% spoil the book so be warned;
Spoiler
It turns out that Harlow was sexually assaulted by her father in her youth, which his horrid and should have never happened. It starts an addiction to murder for her because it makes her feel in control and she likes the thrill of the kill.What rubbed me the wrong way is the same reason why 'Thirteen Reasons Why' rubbed me the wrong way. It demonises a victim without delving into their hurt has genuine and valid. Timeline wise, I was a bit confused but I think Harlow grew up in the 60s/70s. She then continues to kill and maim up until present day because it 'soothes' her.
That alone really put me off. Victims of something that horrendous can delve into something deep and dark but it gets worse. See, Harlow turns into a rapist herself. She admits that she started to abuse her own son at the tender age of 10 (??????) and then she killed him because 'he wasn't doing it for her anymore' all while her husband watches and the author sweeps it under the rug like 'oh well, you know how your mom is, she has past trauma, just deal with it son'.
It's NEVER explained how her husband dealt with the death of their son, who he dearly and deeply loved up until that point. Did he just shrug it off, bury their kid and call it a day?
Nothing about Harlow is even a little redeeming, and having her sexual assault be a start of darkness without proper tenderness and care into the subject just feels wrong and disgusting somehow.
As for the characters; They're fine at first but then become beyond stupid. Mickey was the only one who was slightly likeable and that's saying something. Red is braindead, Harlow is basically 'just hot but also psycho', Andrew doesn't have two braincells to rub together and the damned ending:
Spoiler
Andrew's mother was left by their father, and I kept thinking there would be some twist that it was Harlow all along too. But nope. Just a random woman. His mother developed a fear of people after that, as well as an alcohol addiction. This is suffering and I know it as a child of an addict. it hurts and the pain you feel is immense. He snaps when he sees her walk about to buy more booze, after denying him everything for the past 17 years or so? But then he crawls back to her and accepts her.I don't think this message is in any way good. Yes, this novel is not meant for children and yes, not every book needs to have a clear moral message. But I got from it that you better stay with your abusive family who will neglect you for years because the alternative may be worse. Just go back to them, what does their abuse matter? They're your family, you can't just bail on family."
I don't know, I just hoped it wouldn't come to this. I hoped the ending would be avoided and yet here we are. It's a shame because I don't dislike the authors writing at all. But this is just a novel that isn't it.