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violetvulptex's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Confinement and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, Murder, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Transphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Gore
bootsmom3's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Antisemitism and Racism
Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Genocide, and Death of parent
yuyuv's review
- 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
Graphic: Excrement, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Medical content, Outing, Toxic friendship, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence
kcrutch's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Murder, Drug use, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death of parent
nickthebooktoker'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? Yes
3.5
My interest was finally grabbed once we get to the retreat itself, which makes me think this is where the story should have started to begin with. The introductory stuff leading up to this felt unnecessary, or could have just been included later on through flashbacks to contextualise Alex (and Wren's) history.
Nonetheless, the story mostly kept me intrigued, albeit the action could have kicked in sooner. There was a lot of scenes involving the retreat participants getting to know each other/developing cliques and participating in writing workshops, which just wasn't very interesting to me. In fact, the first half kind of felt like a high school drama rather than a thriller. The characters simply didn't read as a a group of adults in their mid-twenties to me and came across as caricatures at some points.
On the plus side, I did enjoy some of the themes explored, with Bartz posing the question: does great art require pain and suffering? And how far would you go/how much would you endure for the sake of your passion/art and for it to be recognised by others?
All in all, this is a competent thriller that's also full of a surprising amount of sapphic spice and plenty of twists once the action escalates. Worth a read but there's probably better thrillers out there.
Many thanks to Oneworld Publications and NetGalley for providing me with a digital review copy.
Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Excrement, and Vomit