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angelofthetardis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The audio version definitely adds a level to the story in bringing it to life, especially where you have a male narrator reading James' chapters and a female narrator reading Wendy's chapters. However, I still cannot understand why you would hire two narrators for that purpose, and then not have them speak the appropriate lines in the other person's chapter (I.e. have the male read James' speech within Wendy's chapters and vice versa). They don't do badly at putting on the opposite voices, but it just grates on my nerves!
I was less convinced by the voices/accents employed for the secondary characters - the male narrator had an especially tough job given that he's a Brit and most of the secondary characters Americans. I couldn't tell you whether the accent was right for the setting (Brit here), but it was quite harsh and didn't necessarily suit the narrators' natural tone of voice. But equally they managed to bring each character to life throughout with different voices for each and, for the most part, they didn't wander too much.
There were a couple of places where I felt the narrators could have 'acted' a bit more to get the point across, but generally it was a very enjoyable listen.
Graphic: Cursing, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Gun violence, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity, Bullying, Vomit, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Rape
galleytrot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Trafficking, Vomit, Alcohol, Cursing, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Incest, Pedophilia, Car accident, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse
rbjennings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Child abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Drug use
readyforit'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
The author really gets your hopes up and then you have a moment of WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!! There are lots of twists, some of which I predicted as the book went on. I also listened along with the audiobook and I’d say that’s the superior way to read this book, since there are 2 narrators. I do wish they did duet narration where the FMC and MMC are speaking to each other back and forth like a dialogue, rather than have the FMC chapters narrated by the woman and MMC narrated by the man. I also wish we got more Jon! Wendy and Jon and James and Jon. I also read the extended epilogue that is free on the author’s website and it’s a nice wrap up 10 years later, along with character profiles for Wendy and James.
I liked both the FMC and MMC but I wished for more character development from Wendy. She doesn’t have a huge personality in the movie either but I feel like maybe she could’ve had some more development than “finding her voice” (barely). James is a complex morally gray character that often makes terrible decisions because he’s blinded by his trauma. I could see so many times in the book where I was like CANT YOU SEE THE ANSWER IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! And he would just continue blaming his enemies from his past.
If you’re hesitant to pick this book up, I’d lookup the trigger warnings. There is mention of
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Rape, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
amber_rmyoung'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, Gore, Death, Sexual content, Murder, Kidnapping, Cursing, Confinement, and Animal cruelty
hchaus21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Gun violence, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent
elledanie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Sexual content, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Car accident, Death of parent, and Drug use
mitrosec's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
With that said, I understand he is a villain and thoroughly enjoyed the book. Although, as a lesbian reading about his perceptions of women made me sick to my stomach.
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Confinement, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Sexism
booksalacarte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
A dark contemporary romance using elements of Peter Pan woven into the story. It was a quick read. I found myself more excited about finding all the Easter eggs than the plot itself. It was pretty unbelievable and leaned heavily on both MC’s trauma to define them. The plot was fine, but left a lot of holes that could have been easily addressed and tied up. The dialogue was really repetitive and a lot of discussions that could have built on the characters took place off page.
Insta-lust
Grumpy/sunshine
Crime lord
Enemies to lovers
“Burn the world for you”
Definitely check your trigger warnings on this one.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Drug use, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy
alilbitofeveryth1ng's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse