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jacktherapper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Grief, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Child death, Death, Incest, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
alisha247's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
the first thing i really noticed about this novel was its writing. the author wrote some really beautiful sentences, especially those focusing on nature imagery, however there were also plenty of sentences that were either prose overkill or simply did not make sense. this, coupled with the incessant back and forth timelines, sometimes spanning years, did not help me follow these characters’ journeys.
secondly, the triggering content. there was unnecessary amounts of graphic sexual abuse and emotional neglect of children. i understand the message the novel was trying to portray with this - how trauma can tremendously shape lives, but the imagery was not needed.
furthermore, none of the characters were very likeable. they were very much one-dimensional to me. this made it difficult to empathise with any of their choices. for some characters, their distastefulness worked well in the story e.g. elle’s parents, her stepparents etc. but for others, readers almost needed to be won over for the story to excel e.g. i certainly felt that peter was bland and his only character traits were being english and vulgar; jonas was presented as a total sweetheart as a child but as an adult, there was no charisma.
and then the ending. i don’t usually mind ambiguous endings, but this left too many loose ends in its wake!
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content
mjvanhusen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Rape, and Sexual assault
abbiekwilliams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Cancer, Incest, Infertility, and Terminal illness
sophia_graber's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death
kate_not_kate'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Nope it was definitely not the summer read I was hoping to get. 3 different underage girls are getting rapped. One by her stepdad, other by the brother and main character by her stepbrother. Till the end I don’t understand why she blamed herself what happened with her “DeFiNeTlY not a serial killer” (yes he could be the one) stepbrother.
The real good part of the book was Jonas and Anna. The stories with them were really interesting to read.
But still, be prepared to read a book where in the second chapter a 9 year old girl is forced to give bj her stepdad and where parents don’t see all the abuse that happens.
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
lavienne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Infertility, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Blood, Dementia, and Abandonment
tessroth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Death
Minor: Miscarriage and Terminal illness
kelsharr's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Child death and Rape
Moderate: Death and Sexual assault
Minor: Miscarriage, Suicide, and Terminal illness
bombshellbibliophile's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual content
Not worth the read. Terrible ending. Past and present was too back and forth. Characters were utterly unlikeable. Very slow. Author has poetic descriptive writing style but when not paired with good plot and characters it’s wasted. Way too much sexual trauma, with minors at that. that don't really add more to the plot. Surprised this is a NY times and Reese’s book club rec, now I know not all endorsements of such will be to my liking.