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voidstar's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
reeses_reads's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Self harm
icarianoceans's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 | it took me a while to truly get invested, but i read all of part 2 in about an hour! worth reading, i enjoyed it :) solid thriller. major trigger warning for depression, anxiety, and suicide.
marsbookreviews's review against another edition
3.0
If Hunter would've won in the end (iykyk) then this would've been 5 stars for me.
The ending felt too picture perfect while the rest of the story was so dark & deep. (Which I loved btw)
The ending felt too picture perfect while the rest of the story was so dark & deep. (Which I loved btw)
chick's review against another edition
The disappointing kind of YA where the reader isn’t trusted and the writing is for a 13 year old that’s smart and edgy
lana_taylor23's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.75
Truly heart wrenching; read this if you want to cry; it deals with psychological aspects of the human mind and drugs in a realistic fiction story; I never usually read anything like this because if I read anything dark it’s usually fantasy, otherwise it’s lighthearted. However, I don’t regret reading this book. I don’t share the same qualities with the main character, or at least not to nearly the same extent, but I really found so many realistic aspects of this book, especially with the thought processes of the characters. An example of this is Chase and Cole’s excuses as to why they do the things they do and the uselessness of it all and how tiring it is. It felt very realistic that as Chase got very involved in their whole large, secret system to “defeat the system” it o my exhausted Chase more and took time away from her that she was originally trying to save for herself. There was one huge twist in this book among other smaller ones that really surprised me.
midnightbooklover's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was interesting to say the least. I didn’t dislike it I just wasn’t expecting the twist. It honestly caught me off guard and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it.
I listened to the audiobook thanks to Penguin Random House Audio. I actually hadn’t even heard of this until I saw the audiobook. The narrator did a fantastic job and she kept me really captivated.
The plot was really good and I think a lot of teens will relate. Overall I did enjoy the book.
I listened to the audiobook thanks to Penguin Random House Audio. I actually hadn’t even heard of this until I saw the audiobook. The narrator did a fantastic job and she kept me really captivated.
The plot was really good and I think a lot of teens will relate. Overall I did enjoy the book.
gggina13's review against another edition
3.0
bookstagram tour post is up here :)
3.5 probably, this is a book with Asian representation, sapphic representation, mental health concerns, it shows how pressure is killing rising college students... but I just didn't feel super invested!!
It had one of those plot devices that folks who haven't been reading for 15+ years will think is so cool! I bet teens would love this. But as someone who has read so many tropes by now, I just didn't get knocked out of my seat reading it, even though I must say I didn't really see it coming. (I'm being purposefully vague so you will have no idea what I'm talking about :0))
3.5 probably, this is a book with Asian representation, sapphic representation, mental health concerns, it shows how pressure is killing rising college students... but I just didn't feel super invested!!
It had one of those plot devices that folks who haven't been reading for 15+ years will think is so cool! I bet teens would love this. But as someone who has read so many tropes by now, I just didn't get knocked out of my seat reading it, even though I must say I didn't really see it coming. (I'm being purposefully vague so you will have no idea what I'm talking about :0))
readingfrankly's review against another edition
1.0
With a title as beautiful and haunting as this book has, and knowing the rep it contains, I was extremely hopeful about this one. Unfortunately, it very much let me down. This is a classic case of a good initial concept, but very poor execution.
I am not going to take the time to do research, but it seemed to me that the author took real side effects that could happen (iykyk) and turned them into something cartoonish and overly theatrical. It felt cringey.
The biggest issue though was simply that no one is likeable. And that's important because this is the type of story where you're expected to care for the mc, for their grief. And for the person who is gone. But I didn't, because everyone kinda sucked.
I do not think the way the messaging about academia was incorporated into the story did it any favors, either. It felt so cheesy and PLL to include this scandalous cheating ring in the midst of a girl who chose to do what she did (being vague to avoid triggering language).
It was also very much not explored properly how toxic and completely wrong these two girls were for each other. And they each had about 2 characters traits, one of which was the fact they were both selfish.
Lastly, the plot twist. All I will say is, this one really was not thought out well enough.This girl managed to hallucinate an entire person for literal months and somehow no one ever noticed, and she was able to solve the problem of said hallucination without any help. It worked out so smoothly, it was actually funny to me.
I'm not mad at this book. It just simply is not well done, in my opinion. It is not to the level of something like To All The Bright Places, which managed to portray flawed teenagers and also mercilessly wrecked me. Ultimately for me this was flat at best and cringey at worst. I am still reeling a bit at the way some things were done.
I am not going to take the time to do research, but it seemed to me that the author took real side effects that could happen (iykyk) and turned them into something cartoonish and overly theatrical. It felt cringey.
The biggest issue though was simply that no one is likeable. And that's important because this is the type of story where you're expected to care for the mc, for their grief. And for the person who is gone. But I didn't, because everyone kinda sucked.
I do not think the way the messaging about academia was incorporated into the story did it any favors, either. It felt so cheesy and PLL to include this scandalous cheating ring in the midst of a girl who chose to do what she did (being vague to avoid triggering language).
It was also very much not explored properly how toxic and completely wrong these two girls were for each other. And they each had about 2 characters traits, one of which was the fact they were both selfish.
Lastly, the plot twist. All I will say is, this one really was not thought out well enough.
I'm not mad at this book. It just simply is not well done, in my opinion. It is not to the level of something like To All The Bright Places, which managed to portray flawed teenagers and also mercilessly wrecked me. Ultimately for me this was flat at best and cringey at worst. I am still reeling a bit at the way some things were done.