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fraise'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
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Blood, Classism, Gaslighting, Stalking, Violence, Animal death, Child death, Death, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Minor: War and Death of parent
thecriticalreader's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
One other thing that bothered me considerably was the fatphobic language. The language Turton uses to describe a fat character is unnecessarily cruel.
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Death, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, and Murder
Moderate: Torture, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Child abuse, Blood, Addiction, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cursing, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Self harm
greatexpectations77'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
2.75
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, Stalking, Blood, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Bullying, Classism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Abandonment, Mental illness, Alcohol, Grief, and Infidelity
Minor: Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual harassment
Avoid if you don't like: torture, trying to remember about 24 vaguely similar characters, or telling instead of showing.twistykris's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
- The fatphobia made me so so uncomfortable. Aiden is in a host body of one character, and every other paragraph talks about how "huge" and "grotesque" this man is, and how every piece of furniture "creaks" under his "immense" weight, and how he has "many greasy chins." It felt excessive and unnecessary (yes, he's fat, you hate how fat he is when you're in his body, we get it. And sure, maybe some of it was
because the thoughts and memories of the hosts start to take over Aiden's mind, and maybe this is that character's own self-hate and internalized fatphobia but YIKES ). - I don't mind reading a book I feel is dense or challenging. But maybe my brain was just not prepared for the absolute string-and-post-it-note levels of dense this book felt. I had to make a GoogleDoc to keep track of who said what when and who interacted with who because as it turns out, tiny little details would pop up later and I had to be constantly re-reading and flipping back to previous chapters, and not in a fun "OH I'M MAKING A CONNECTION" way; more of a "wait, who said what? I'm so confused" way. To be honest: this book made me feel dumb as hell at times.
- I couldn't seem to be invested in these characters. I felt a twinge of it for Aiden closer to the ending after a big reveal, but nothing that made me hold my breath in anticipation, fear, or excitement.
- Without spoilers: the ending left me feeling a sort of "ick."
- There were some things that felt unanswered in an unsatisfying way.
All in all, I'm giving this a 2.25- this book wasn't for me. I went into this book, craving a "Benoit Blanc"-style mystery but it left me feeling disappointed. Maybe it was a wrong-book-wrong-time scenario, maybe I would never have enjoyed this. But I leave with the knowledge that I need to learn when to put a book down if it isn't giving me satisfaction.
If you enjoy a book that will make you put up a whiteboard to keep track of the intricate webs, if you enjoy multiple twists that leave you feeling a smidge lost and wanting to find the connections, if you feel compelled to immediately re-read a complex book so you can pick up on all the details you missed the first time, this might be the book for you.
Graphic: Fatphobia, Murder, Body shaming, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Classism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent and Ableism
meganndalee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Fatphobia and Ableism
lo_fi'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? No
2.0
Graphic: Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Body shaming
bencaroline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Fatphobia, Violence, Murder, and Body shaming
Moderate: Blood, Ableism, Alcohol, and Suicide
maeverose's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Cons:
Third, going off the last one a bit, there’s zero diversity. Everybody is straight, cis, white, and most of the important characters are men. Evelyn and Anna being obviously important to the story but they’re hardly in it compared to the men. None of Aiden’s 8 hosts are women. On top of that, a lot of the people we’re supposed to dislike are described as ‘ugly’ or disfigured.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Mental illness
Minor: Excrement, Grief, Racism, and Sexual content
Implied rape, memory loss, poisoningtacoshark'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: Violence, Murder, Ableism, Child death, Classism, Drug use, Suicide, Addiction, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Gore
Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
mjwhitlock18's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism