Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - Trust Exercise

reading this book felt like susan choi shaped my brain into a boomerang and flung it across the room

this book is nothing like I expected and it just snowballs constantly into something else. I loved it and hated it and was horrified and surprised and enthralled, and I’m going to be thinking about it for a while.

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sugarbowl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i absolutely loved this book, and skimming through reviews, i’m genuinely surprised that i seem to be in the minority.

the writing is stunning, intricate, and plays it’s own role in each part of the story. it perfectly captures the anguish, resoluteness, and cautious hope through pacing and intensity and characterisation. the twists were chefs kiss phenomenal. it took me a moment each time to wrap my head around what changes in perception each twist demanded, but never enough to throw me off entirely. for most of the story i found it nearly impossible to predict how the story would continue, which could have been off-putting and stalled momentum, though it did nothing like that here for me. i loved it but it is incredibly hard to describe, categorise, or recommend. 5 star.

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jesakeita's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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jordans_not_here's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

4.5

If you want to know why I’m in therapy… just read this book. It’s literally based on my high school.

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momcneill's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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moosycakes's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I wouldn't really say I "enjoyed" reading this book, although it was very well written. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style personally, although the layout of the book was pretty genius. There were a lot of uncomfortable scenes to read and this isn't a book I would feel comfortable recommending widely due to the topics covered. I'd suggest checking some content warnings before reading if you have anything you find particularly difficult to read about.

I think I'm glad to have read this book, it does have some important (harrowing) messages and the relationships between the different perspectives of the characters will have me thinking about this book for a long time.

You may struggle with following some of the story if you get easily confused, I found that sometimes the coherency of the plot and what was actually happening came second to the writing style and use of detailed description/imagery. While some of that issue can be explained by the writing style being chosen and changed to serve the story and the differing narrative styles, sometimes it went a bit over what would be necessary for that end, in my opinion.

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leah_alexandra's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was pretty rough. It's tough to talk about my reactions without spoilers, so most of my review is hidden.

I had been told there was a big "twist" in the book, but I was honestly pretty disappointed. The first part of the book actually being a fictionalized book a student wrote was not as dramatic a twist as I thought it would be. And I don't know if the author meant for the shooting at the end of "Karen's" part of the book to be a surprise, but it was apparent from miles away. The last, very small piece of the book was vague, and not in a way that made it more intriguing. Just added to some general frustrations with the book. Sarah's story was pretty exhausting--it really leaned into the trope of special teens being somehow more mature than their years. I was less frustrated by that piece once I knew what it was, but the second half of the book didn't do enough to make up for it.

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magsthehag's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

5.0

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