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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story is the fairly impressive, because it's sprawling and intense, but it keeps you completely in its world, desperate to know what is going to happen and when and to whom. There are a number of fascinating characters, who help peel back the layers of the story for the reader as all the pieces start to come together. However, pacing is also a huge factor in what makes this book so gulpy. most of the chapters are fewer than ten pages, 3-4 pages on average, where each chapter switches viewpoint so you're always being propelled forward at great speed, although not always in the same direction. Which kind of worked, but also was like whiplash. Totally different from "The Girl with All the Gifts."
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm not sure hunk about his book. Here was just so much in it. It starts off with jess who is sent to prison for the murder of a child (she basically set her flat on fire and the kid was caught up in it). In prison this ghost comes to her and they go off in a dream world and it's just weird... but in the real life there's this drug ring happening... there were just so many people and such little backstory. I just didn't care about any of them and the they all died at the end anyway.
After speeding through the fantastic 'Girl with All the Gifts' I was excited to dig into the novel, but cautious with my expectations as it was obvious from the outset that this would be a very different tale. While I enjoyed the story, the narrative never really hooked me, and although I found the characters likeable enough, none of them were interesting enough to warrant a more emotional connection. Perhaps that is unfair, I think I could have grown to like characters like Liz Earnshaw, or even Shannon with a bit more chracterisation, and Harriet Grace had the potential to be a fantastic love-to-hate villain. Unfortunately, in spite of the length of this story, the characters remained pretty one-dimensional.
The plot itself was interesting enough, although fairly predictable. I would have preferred a bit more explanation/exploration of Jess' unique situation, meanwhile the final reveal seemed obvious for the last 150 pages or so.
Bottom line: An enjoyable read but nothing to write home about.
The plot itself was interesting enough, although fairly predictable. I would have preferred a bit more explanation/exploration of Jess' unique situation, meanwhile the final reveal seemed obvious for the last 150 pages or so.
Bottom line: An enjoyable read but nothing to write home about.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
Enjoyable, nebulous, vaguely reminiscent of OITNB, very hard to read without being disappointed because Girl With All The Gifts was so damn revelatory.
I enjoyed reading this book. It’s entertaining, there’s suspense, the plot is fairly novel and there are multiple character perspectives to explore, which I felt was well done. I didn’t enjoy the ending though, as parts of the events felt out of character. Mostly though, it just isn’t a book that stayed with me. Even the open-ended final chapters haven’t left me wondering about any of the characters. For this reason, I can’t rate it higher than 3.5*
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes