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kaiiyo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing
Moderate: Gore, Mental illness, Biphobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Grief
cobwebshelves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
so you've just died and come back to life, got into your dream academy, and during your first week you do wandering in the tunnels under the campus, only to encounter a strange being who promises to bring you gifs out of the kindness of her heart. perhaps with a small payment attached. what could possibly go wrong?
i had a lot of fun with this one! in "my dearest darkest", cottingham has brought solid eeriness to their private school setting, doing a pretty solid job balancing the supernatural and the mundane. finch and selena's POVs are both distinct, painting a clear contrast and helping build up the relationship. both the bisexual and lesbian rep was lovely – having one character who's out and comfortable and another who's just starting to figure things out made for a good contrast, and i also commend cottingham for speaking about how traumatic being outed can be. i'm not a big horror reader, so this had just the right amount of that for me. there were some rather gory moments that made me a little queasy but someone who's more used to the genre probably wouldn't find to be that much.
the only real downside was the pacing and how it affected the character development. certain scenes felt fast-forwarded, making the timeline seem disorienting. i had thought several months had passed at one point, only for the story to drop a halloween mention. this led to conversations and relationship building being skipped over with short paragraphs of "for the next week, finch did this" or "the following two weeks, selena did that". the cult storyline felt lost in the time skips too and i felt like victor was underutilised for the storytelling. i certainly expected him to play a bigger role in the final act.
despite it, i found myself immersed in "my dearest darkest" and kind of wishing i had a story like this when i was 18-19 and hungry for spooky academia.
initially received this book as an arc from netgalley and sourcebooks fire.
Graphic: Death and Gore
Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent
brandon_the_beldam2993's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
With a flavor of Stranger things meets Dark Academia, My Dearest Darkest is for anyone looking for a solid read on a lazy afternoon.
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, and Car accident
czoltak's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Blood, and Car accident
imandubose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gore, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, and Biphobia
alyssa2012's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Racism, Biphobia, Drug use, Vomit, Outing, and Panic attacks/disorders
kitrook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Outing
amethyst15's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gaslighting, and Gore
Moderate: Car accident, Sexual content, Grief, Outing, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
carsonbailey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Murder, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Outing
kolanya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Body horror, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Outing