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itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Things I liked about it:
- It filled that Dark Academia niche that scratches at my brain on occasion.
- It was nice seeing a POC who is heavily implied to be autistic and have a sex life.
- It was nice seeing a slow burn, non-sexual sapphic relationship
Some minor nitpicks:
- I don't think the author realises you can be sapphic and asexual at the same time in the case of Lottie. Seeing how rare asexuality is portrayed in media (let alone respectfully) I can understand where this misunderstanding comes from, but maybe some further research/sensitivity readings would be warranted next time.
- Some of the descriptions can be a bit repetitive and sometimes got repeated pages apart from each other.
The antagonists gave up far too easily. The girls' victory felt too easy when all they did was essentially walk up to a secret society meeting (in the back of some bar no less), barge in, speak up and threaten one of the family members and that was it. The clues were there for Dacre's true motivations but the "mystery" felt a bit half baked There were a bunch of loose ends that just ended up being dismissed at the end, almost in a very out of place fourth wall break as if the characters knew we'd be questioning these loose ends too.
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
mal717's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Also, not to like spoil this for other people but there is mention of a cat being killed, but either that actually didn't happen, or the cat comes back to life and gets the person back. So, like, I just need other people to be prepared for that because I was not. Animals dying is like my big no, and I ruined a book for a friend because I mentally blocked out an animal being killed and I won't do that ever again lol
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Misogyny, and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
Okay, I mentioned the cat death above, and like I said, either it really happened and the cat comes back to life, or it was hallucinated and the cat is a butthead. It isn't clear, though it is just kind of just accepted the cat came back to life?grrrlbrarian'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
4.0
Side note specific to the audiobook: this is the first audiobook I've listened to, and although I loved the narrators' emotional and funny performance, I did find it frustrating that they constantly mispronounced things, including Hafsah's name. Could really have done with someone to check pronunciations during recording.
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Chronic illness, Suicide, Misogyny, and Vomit
babsi_222's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was amazing and great for me! If you like some mystery a bit psychology and witchy stuff you will love this book! I’m usuall not into this genre but this book is an exception.
Also if you like the Netflix show ‚Wednesday‘ this is a great book to read because the characters and vibes are similar.
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Misogyny, Stalking, Torture, Animal death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal cruelty, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Vomit
fe_aye's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I did however like Alice, she was the main thing that kept me reading. This story was intriguing enough to keep me engaged but not really enough for me to be entertained. Some moments are simply jarring because it’s not exactly clear how characters come to the conclusions they do. The romance was rushed but not the worst thing in the world, a forgivable kind of bad, like straight people have crap romance stories so here’s a gay one to even the score slightly.
Ultimately I probably won’t read again, but I did manage to finish this book regardless of my distain for one of the central characters, the narration style is very easy to read so if you want something not exactly brilliant but enough to keep your attention a little while this is probably it.
Graphic: Sexism, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, and Misogyny
Moderate: Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Blood, and Self harm
lara_0616'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
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, and Death
amabel_xo'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
5.0
Minor: Misogyny, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Blood, and Animal death
matheo'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Child death, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Medical content, and Mental illness
beccaaaa'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Misogyny, and Murder
jadehusdanhicks'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
5.0
Salem although creepy as hell at times is the most iconic animal I’ve ever read in a book - I mean how cool is an immortal cat?
To anyone who like mystery, school settings esp dark academia, plot twists with I guess a hint of a curse even though it’s not quite then this book is for you!
Loved this and truly glad I picked it up.
Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Mental illness, Death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Self harm, and Animal death