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xangemtheelibrarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I thought the story was a rarely used idea, one that harkens back to the movie The Lost Boys (1987). Except, instead of fighting to save themselves from being turned, these three girls are fighting to free themselves and save another girl in the process.
The plot itself is really fun. They have a bit of a heist moment trying to get all the ingredients for their plan. There's a romance element between Holly and Parker, and Elton is SO easy to hate. And the story does not lack those classic teen vampire romance elements. (i.e.: Parker biting her lip so hard it draws blood, Holly smelling that delicious blood and being very unsure if she's about to kiss Parker or kill her. But also, Parker!! ARE YOU OKAY? Cheezus! Chill on the lip biting!)
This book got surprisingly graphic as far as violence goes. I still shudder thinking about the part where Holly describes in great detail the sounds and feeling of having her ENTIRE ARM ripped from her body. Vampires really like tearing each other apart limb by limb. There is a single sex scene, but it doesn't get any more graphic than "we touched each other everywhere and chased our pleasure" or something to that effect.
Overall, I'm happy I read this! It was an enjoyable, quick read.
Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual content, Dementia, Death of parent, and Abandonment
arsenelouppain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I had initially planned to give it 2.5 stars, but the scene whre
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
euyrdice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Death
Minor: Child abuse
longlost'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? It's complicated
2.0
the good: hartl's brand of dark humour used to tell this story made it feel very engaging to me, but that's very much personal taste. i liked the characters - the core vampire trio (later quartet) were easy to love for their quirks and i found what we did learn about their backstories and histories to be genuinely interesting and at times heartbreaking. holly's issues w/ her mother also really spoke to me when they did become front and centre, and i liked
the bad (and the Ugly): so. the entire premise of the book is the three girls who were coerced by the main villain - a vampire creep who preys on vulnerable, isolated teenagers - teaming up to kill him so he can't ensnare anymore victims. and then we spend the entire book developing a romance between holly and parker of which the inherent weirdness of it is never really acknowledged ? like yea, we know that holly genuinely cares because we're reading things from her point of view and there's a lot of emphasis on how being Turned pauses you at that point in time meaning that holly is Technically still 16 but. it is just, not that simple ? she's been existing for like 30 years and parker is. a teenager. maybe there could have been ways to approach it well but here it just felt.... extremely brushed over despite a major plot point of the story being how the villain did similar things to the main character & her friends. the romance felt kinda bland too but tbf i was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt until the out of nowhere underage sex scene which very nearly made the book a DNF for me but there wasnt much of the story left at that point and i wanted to keep to my rule about having read a book in full before writing an in-depth review like this and i felt like these issues were glaring enough that they needed to be discussed in context of the story which is. as explained, never really addressed by the author other than holly being like "oh no if we date parker will eventually grow old and die" which. doesn't even begin to address the juxtaposition between the entire revenge plot and holly and parker's relationship. the overall ending seems to be contentious from reading other reviews here but tbh at that point id disengaged emotionally so i dont have any real thoughts on that.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Dementia, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings
kt2e56'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? It's complicated
1.5
Each character spoke exactly the same despite their age/time period differences. Like the entire book felt like one person arguing with themself.
The book was told from Holly’s point of view but she had no real personality to her.
Rose’s personality was just the author describing her outfits (and she was the only character who ever got such devoted details when it came to clothing. Everyone else might have been naked based on the lack of description they received).
Ida’s personality was that she was supposed to be the dark, edgy one who makes “quirky” art projects using the bodies of her victims but like that’s literally it. Just that one note played over and over and over again.
Parker was beautiful. That’s it. Beautiful (no other character had the same level of description when it came to physical appearance) and unbelievably foolish because
Side characters were also given just one personality trait per person.
It’s a shame this book was as bad as it was because the premise sounded great and I
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Dementia, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
sarahrom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Toxic relationship
lipstickitotheman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
layn_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail