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aparker89's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Absolutely fantastic writing!
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Murder, Abandonment, Bullying, Gaslighting, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Blood, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Stalking, Terminal illness, Violence, Chronic illness, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Toxic relationship
nostoat's review
5.0
I was a bit apprehensive to read this book, as I have strong feelings about madness in narrative, as well as triggers around unreality. However van Veen handles it with such a deft hand. While some readers might still find it difficult or triggering to read (there are doctor's notes sprinkled throughout that, while deeply compassionate, might still be difficult), I didn't.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Terminal illness, Self harm, Racism, and Child abuse
Moderate: Incest and Sexual assault
Roos is intentionally starved by her mother throughout the beginning of the book.adragoninspace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Blood, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Racism, Death, Death of parent, and Rape
blacksphinx's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Overall this is a great novel about the lingering effects of trauma and what that does to those who survive. If you're a goth who is always tweeting about "toxic yuri", open a new tab and buy it now.
Graphic: Medical content, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Incest, Racism, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Self harm, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Trafficking
It's a massive spoiler butpeachy_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Classism, Murder, Rape, Racism, Death, Body horror, Grief, Vomit, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Racism, Mental illness, Child abuse, Self harm, Vomit, Terminal illness, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Incest, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Homophobia
Minor: Suicide attempt
illtakethenightshiftx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Self harm, Chronic illness, and Child abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail
emily_journals's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed the inter-character relationships going on in this book and I really loved the world-building. You can tell that the author really took time to develop the relationships in this book, especially those between Roos and Ruth and between Roos and Agnes. The ghost/spirit lore established in this book was so intriguing and unique. The level of intricacy in this lore of relating not only how someone dies, but where their body resides to how a spirit comes to be and has to be reawakened was really brilliantly done.
As typically expected when reading a debut novel, there were some craft issues with this book. While I did really love the inter-character relationships in this book, I did think that the character development of singular characters could have been explored more. I also thought that the pacing of this book was a bit off, this book felt very slow and drawn out for the level of plot and character development that were happening within this book, but I think learning when to draw out or condense parts of a story typically come with practice so I'm usually a little more forgiving of debut authors on pacing. My biggest complaint about this book is that even though it was a horror novel and there was a level of anticipation as certain points, I felt that this book was greatly lacking in suspense. For me, the interview framing device was taking suspense out of this story rather than adding to it and I wish that the framing had been done a little differently so that I still felt suspense going through this story.
Overall, this was a very strong debut and the character relationships and lore building generally outweighed the craft issues for me.
ARC provided by NetGalley.
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
Moderate: Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Self harm, Murder, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Incest, Medical content, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Cannibalism, Child death, and Racism
Minor: Colonisation, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Animal death, Classism, and Drug use
pattytru08's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Child abuse
Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Drug use, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Toxic friendship
kristinareadz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Bullying, Blood, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Dementia, Terminal illness, Self harm, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Vomit, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, and Gore
Minor: Sexual assault