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alysereadsbooks's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
2.25
I listened to the audiobook version of this without reading much of a summary, and I was pretty disappointing. I knew from the beginning that Julian was a red flag and I had dread while reading this one. I did like the exploration of her relationship with her sister and the previous wives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death
kitkathw871's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
The middle part of the book captivated my attention, but it was a long slow journey to get there and then ended fairly abruptly. It took a while before the story even approached the premise mentioned in the summary. The book also went back and forth on what genre it wanted to be. The pop culture references felt shoehorned in and took me out of the story because it was too online. I felt the dialogue was also often stilted and written with an unrealistic tone, and there were many instances where the author's own voice poked through too much, diminishing the identity of the character. This book was most interesting in the stories of the previous wives and Advika was outshone in her own book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, and Death
Moderate: Gaslighting
evelikesbooks's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Racism
motherjuggler's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, and Sexism
julesthebookdragon417's review
emotional
slow-paced
- 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
2.5
This book didn't know what it wanted to be. And rather than pairing things down to find the essential story the author wanted to tell, everything stays interwoven in such a bulky way that the various subplots all weight each other down, each competing to be the heart of the story. What's there is well done: explorations of grief, controlling/abusive relationships, mystery, and character studies. But by halfway through I just wanted to get to the point.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Grief
dalenora's review
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book had a lot of potential and it really hooked me for the first half, but I feel like its depiction of an abusive relationship was a little bit heavy handed and better suited for a thriller. It was hard to believe that a woman in her mid 20s could be so naive that she’d marry a man who was a walking red flag after only 3 months, and I found his controlling behavior borderline comical. I mean cmon, he wouldn’t let her leave the house? Domestic violence is rarely so obvious and easy to spot, and that really cheapened the book. I also felt like we were really building to a HUGE reveal with the film reel, but when we finally got to find out what was on it it was… underwhelming. It felt like far too much was subtext or left unexplained.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Domestic abuse
calicornmoore's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death
viireads's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
first half was an absolute
D R A G ughhhhh
(I had to physically force myself to get to the part about the the will)
but as soon as the lore with Nova started being dug up it got fast paced and I was enjoying it
I guess I just kept on going to see how it ended (which ultimately i didn't end up liking much mainly because of one certain element the child )
⭐⭐⭐
3.0 stars for the following reasons:
• feeling represented and also seeing the diverse cast
• second half of the book was very gripping and definitely a page turner
• realistic portrayal of modern day friendships
• the ending gave me a lil hope for myself because other than the aforementioned element everything else in it was tied up nicely
D R A G ughhhhh
(I had to physically force myself to get to the part about the the will)
but as soon as the lore with Nova started being dug up it got fast paced and I was enjoying it
I guess I just kept on going to see how it ended (which ultimately i didn't end up liking much mainly because of one certain element
⭐⭐⭐
3.0 stars for the following reasons:
• feeling represented and also seeing the diverse cast
• second half of the book was very gripping and definitely a page turner
• realistic portrayal of modern day friendships
• the ending gave me a lil hope for myself because other than the aforementioned element everything else in it was tied up nicely
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Xenophobia, and Stalking
Minor: Emotional abuse
medini_l's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- 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
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
laughtrack17's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Racism, Death, Grief, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts