Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Someone Else's Life

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Someone Else's Life by Lyn Liao Butler

3 reviews

leahhmorriss's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was quite slow for the first half. I think the plot had a lot of potential but ended up being quite predictable and I did guess all of the plot twists before they happened. Some of it seemed a little far fetched and unbelievable, but I enjoyed the book as a whole. I think the last 10% was a little dragged out and could’ve been shortened.
I found myself being quite frustrated with the main character, Annie. For a start, given her interest in TV shows involving stalkers and murderers, I do not understand why she would even let a stranger into her home. She then proceeded to ignore multiple red flags and odd behaviour from the woman who claimed to know a lot more about Annie’s life than she should. After finding out how crazy the woman was, she even tried to defend her and reason with her and offer to help her! Any sane person would not so easily forgive or try to understand this woman after everything she caused.
Overall, I did enjoy the book when I was reading it and found myself wanting to continue to the end.

Content Warnings

erinmjustice's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

starrysteph's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Someone Else’s Life offered up a unique setting and dire circumstances, but left a little to be desired.

We follow Annie, who recently moved to Hawaii with her husband and young son, wanting a fresh start and a chance to leave near her father and sister after her life unraveled. Following the deaths of her mother and her beloved dog, the bankruptcy of her dance business, and a traumatic incident involving her son, Annie shrinks into a shell of her formal, vibrant self. And when a stranger appears on her doorstep during a scarily intense tropical storm, Annie finds an unexpected connection. But - this is a thriller. ;) So naturally, things go quite wrong.

Here’s what worked for me:

• Super interesting setting and characters. I appreciated the little details that came from the author’s lived experiences - Taiwanese culture and recipes, local spots in Hawaii, and etc.

• The stakes couldn’t have been higher, and the intensity of the storm was delightfully atmospheric.

• I appreciated Annie’s journey towards recognizing that getting help and caring for herself mentally is important and not something to feel shame about - and her father’s acceptance of this (though this was devalued a bit by the other mental illness subplot - see below).

• Doggies! :)

•

Annie’s empathy towards the “villain” was interesting - I was torn about this - it was kind of a lovely show of compassion, but also seemed a little illogical (I mean, her LIFE and her CHILD’S LIFE were at stake). Also Annie seemed to be a self-insert of the author, so I wondered about if this was a “hey, look how lovely and understanding i would be in this situation?”

Here’s what I didn’t love:

• The writing was a bit juvenile for my tastes. Super simplistic, not very descriptive, and a lot of telling us how to feel or what to take away from the action. There were also a fair amount of grammatical issues, but this is an early-ish proof, so i don’t want to come down too hard on that.

• It was also quite repetitive - phrases and plot lines were being SCREAMED at us way too many times. It took away from the twists.

• There was some uncomfortable language surrounding mental illness, and fear of someone being “unstable”/“crazy” or a “psychopath” because of genetics. This was paired with a much better storyline of Annie overcoming her shame around therapy and asking for help, so it was a bummer that some prejudices/problematic language leaked into the writing. This would have benefited greatly from a sensitivity reader.

• The MC and her friend group were meant to be in their forties, but they spoke very, very young.

My overall impression? This was a quick, fun read. It’s got some interesting slices of life from Hawaii and Taiwanese culture, but it’s a tropey thriller plot with simplistic writing, and I probably wouldn’t rush to recommend it.

CW: murder, child death, death of parent, animal death, alcoholism, cancer, child abuse, gaslighting, grief, homophobia/biphobia, mental illness, stalking, suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, ableism, violence

(I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

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