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jamiejanae_6's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Stalking, and Torture
hannahloveslit's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Torture, Murder, Kidnapping, Gore, Grief, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma
Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Stalking, Abortion, and Sexual assault
saraneyd'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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Grief, Infertility, Rape, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Child abuse, and Death
dorsetreader's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Violence, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, and Forced institutionalization
gracedunne'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Mental illness and Abortion
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
bethnash'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
paronomaniac'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? Yes
2.5
To start, it was unnecessarily long. A good edit could have cut 15-20% of the text and still maintained the story. The entire chapter on the protagonist using the Find My Phone app could have been two paragraphs, tops.
The story was also convoluted, and there were too many sub-plots. And the red herrings weren’t so much red herrings as the protagonist jumping to wrong conclusions, over and over again.
Worst of all, the villain’s motives were clichéd and out-of-the-blue.
The themes of trauma, guilt and complicated family were good and added depth to the characters. And there were other good themes and ideas in the book, but overall they were too disparate to come together into a cohesive story.
Moderate: Murder, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Rape, Blood, and Abortion
elyssajoh's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
Moderate: Blood, Stalking, Sexism, Murder, Abortion, Violence, Torture, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders
starrysteph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The setting is a Sanatorium with a dark history (now converted into a modern hotel), hidden deep in the snowy mountains with shoddy cell service and avalanches barring escape. Sounds terrifying, right? Not here.
The pacing was maddeningly slow, the character development was nonexistent, and the men were walking red flags. The reason this is two stars instead of one is because I did appreciate some of the descriptive writing & as mentioned above, thought the concept was excellent.
Our main character, a detective dealing with lifelong panic attacks (starting with the death of her little brother as a child and amplified after a botched case), is shockingly inept. She does ... well .. just about everything wrong during her "investigation". And she is on the verge of tears throughout most of it, doubting herself and whining about her situation. I did not believe Elin was ever a detective (more like a casual true crime podcast listener).
Onto the mystery itself, which was painfully drawn out and filled with common tropes.
No spoilers, but the killer reveal and motivation was baffling. Totally far fetched - and the "clues" were ridiculous. Then, there's a tacked-on epilogue with a cliffhanger clearly intended to leave readers craving more Elin (it didn't work).
This should have been a super high stakes read, and the setting should have been actually utilized (why wasn't the Sanatorium given any characterization?). It's too bad.
CW: murder, death, medical trauma, child death, rape, panic attacks, abortion, kidnapping, confinement, force institutionalization, psychosis, mental illness, torture
Graphic: Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Car accident
selenatothemax's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
Graphic: Violence, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Murder, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Blood, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis