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supodp's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, Bullying, and Murder
clarereadstheworld's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Poppy and Serena both had the same boyfriend in high school. The only problem is their boyfriend was also their teacher; a controlling, abusive and manipulative man. One fateful night, Poppy finally snaps and kills him, or at least that's what the courts decide. But 20 years later, Poppy has just been released from prison, and she's desperate to get Serena to admit her guilt so Poppy can prove her innocence and get her life back. Meanwhile, Serena's perfectly constructed life is about to come crashing down, but was she ever really that free, looking over her shoulder ever minute?
This is a dark, nasty book which really gets under your skin. Reading the abuse both Poppy and Serena went through in their teens was uncomfortable and painful, but also very realistic. The long-lasting impact the abuse had on other girls was heartbreaking, and I'm very glad that Marcus was dead before the end of the book.
It's well written, and kept me up far later than it should have done as I desperately tried to finish and find out which of the girls actually killed him. Definitely a page turner!
This is a dark, nasty book which really gets under your skin. Reading the abuse both Poppy and Serena went through in their teens was uncomfortable and painful, but also very realistic. The long-lasting impact the abuse had on other girls was heartbreaking, and I'm very glad that Marcus was dead before the end of the book.
It's well written, and kept me up far later than it should have done as I desperately tried to finish and find out which of the girls actually killed him. Definitely a page turner!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
liz_ross's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I remember reading this when I was younger and think it deserved 5 stars. I was younger back then and, although I did remember most of the story, I would never dare to write a review based on the memories I had from a reading I did so long ago (which explains why so many of the books I read are still waiting for a review).
So, obviously I reread the book. It wasn't the perfect, extraordinary book I remembered to read, but it is quite close anyway.
But you look at the cover of this book, at the title, and then at me, someone who has said several times that does not like Romance books, and I bet the first thought that comes to your mind is "she went crazy". I did not. Let me repeat the warning I saw in other reviews: DO NOT LET THE SWEET COVER AND THE INNOCENT TITLE FOOL YOU. Don't let them trick you into thinking this is the perfect light summer read, don't let them trick you into thinking this is a sweet story about two best friends. You couldn't be farther from the truth.
This book is dark, has several triggers and has awful graphic scenes that actually managed to make me feel sick. The only thing that ease that horror is the writing style, which is beautiful, allowing the plot to flow perfectly and kind of shields us from the nightmarish events happening - the horror and the gory are still there and I stil felt sick, but it wasn't as hard to read as it would have been if this book would have been written by some other authors, whose writing style is not as beautiful as Koomson's.
Other thing that the beautiful writing style allows is making the whole plot much more entincing, making you so addicted to it that you pretty much ignore almost all the things about this book that could potentially make you confused until after you read the book and start thinking about it. For example, the whole Court trial, which I will not explain further as I don't want to give any spoilers, is just so weird when you think about it. I mean, I am no Law expertise, especially not in the UK law, but considering historials and ages, I just can't understand why Poppy and Serena were always considered suspects and never, not even for a second, victims.
Aside from that, which I think that is a quite obvious plot hole, the plot is very consistent and good, though. It's a hearbreaking, frightning plot that actively looks forward to raise awareness of the dangers that surrond us without us realizing it, about how fatal can it be to sometimes ignore what seems obvious just because at the time we thought other things were more important. A reminder of how a bad person can ruin lives so easily, about betrayal and death and the choices that decided what we become and becomes of us but don't necessarily have to define us. It's about the challeges love has to face, being that not only the love between a couple, but also the love a family feels. And about broken bonds and new that are forged. It's the story of two girls that had nothing in common but their love for the wrong person and whose lives became forever intertwined because of that. The story of their courage to face what life threw at them, a courage that was always mixed with fear, regret and bad memories.
However, I don't think that even the very best writing style in the whole Universe would be good enough to allow anyone to ignore how freaking annoying Serena is in the beginning. You just don't know enough about her to feel emphaty towards her and therefore all her actions seemed excessive, her thoughts beyond irritating. It's only when you start uncovering her past that you can start empathizing with her, which made the annoyance vanish and her chapters became enjoyable.
The other characters are far better, most of them (the ones that matter, at least) where easy to connect with, but Poppy, the other main character, had a major flaw in her behavior in my opinion. Her past, which Koomson makes sure we can't forget by having Poppy mention it in every single one of her chapters, conditioned her behaviour and personality in every single side of her life, except the most important - the love life. After what she went through, and as she said several times, she shouldn't be able to trust anyone. And yet when the love interest shows up in her life she trust him blindly after a few hours. I am not Poppy, I had a much easier life than her (actually, there's no comparation possible to be made) and I would have freaked out if I found someone trying to fix my house without my consent. Apparently that's just me as Poppy was perfectly fine with that. 🤷🏻♀️
Overall, although the story isn't as good as I remembered it is still really, really good. It's a dark and full of triggers story like few can be, but it is beautiful in its own way. A story of courage, acceptace of the past and learning to move on that won't let you indifferent.
So, obviously I reread the book. It wasn't the perfect, extraordinary book I remembered to read, but it is quite close anyway.
But you look at the cover of this book, at the title, and then at me, someone who has said several times that does not like Romance books, and I bet the first thought that comes to your mind is "she went crazy". I did not. Let me repeat the warning I saw in other reviews: DO NOT LET THE SWEET COVER AND THE INNOCENT TITLE FOOL YOU. Don't let them trick you into thinking this is the perfect light summer read, don't let them trick you into thinking this is a sweet story about two best friends. You couldn't be farther from the truth.
This book is dark, has several triggers and has awful graphic scenes that actually managed to make me feel sick. The only thing that ease that horror is the writing style, which is beautiful, allowing the plot to flow perfectly and kind of shields us from the nightmarish events happening - the horror and the gory are still there and I stil felt sick, but it wasn't as hard to read as it would have been if this book would have been written by some other authors, whose writing style is not as beautiful as Koomson's.
Other thing that the beautiful writing style allows is making the whole plot much more entincing, making you so addicted to it that you pretty much ignore almost all the things about this book that could potentially make you confused until after you read the book and start thinking about it. For example, the whole Court trial, which I will not explain further as I don't want to give any spoilers, is just so weird when you think about it. I mean, I am no Law expertise, especially not in the UK law, but considering historials and ages, I just can't understand why Poppy and Serena were always considered suspects and never, not even for a second, victims.
Aside from that, which I think that is a quite obvious plot hole, the plot is very consistent and good, though. It's a hearbreaking, frightning plot that actively looks forward to raise awareness of the dangers that surrond us without us realizing it, about how fatal can it be to sometimes ignore what seems obvious just because at the time we thought other things were more important. A reminder of how a bad person can ruin lives so easily, about betrayal and death and the choices that decided what we become and becomes of us but don't necessarily have to define us. It's about the challeges love has to face, being that not only the love between a couple, but also the love a family feels. And about broken bonds and new that are forged. It's the story of two girls that had nothing in common but their love for the wrong person and whose lives became forever intertwined because of that. The story of their courage to face what life threw at them, a courage that was always mixed with fear, regret and bad memories.
However, I don't think that even the very best writing style in the whole Universe would be good enough to allow anyone to ignore how freaking annoying Serena is in the beginning. You just don't know enough about her to feel emphaty towards her and therefore all her actions seemed excessive, her thoughts beyond irritating. It's only when you start uncovering her past that you can start empathizing with her, which made the annoyance vanish and her chapters became enjoyable.
The other characters are far better, most of them (the ones that matter, at least) where easy to connect with, but Poppy, the other main character, had a major flaw in her behavior in my opinion. Her past, which Koomson makes sure we can't forget by having Poppy mention it in every single one of her chapters, conditioned her behaviour and personality in every single side of her life, except the most important - the love life. After what she went through, and as she said several times, she shouldn't be able to trust anyone. And yet when the love interest shows up in her life she trust him blindly after a few hours. I am not Poppy, I had a much easier life than her (actually, there's no comparation possible to be made) and I would have freaked out if I found someone trying to fix my house without my consent. Apparently that's just me as Poppy was perfectly fine with that. 🤷🏻♀️
Overall, although the story isn't as good as I remembered it is still really, really good. It's a dark and full of triggers story like few can be, but it is beautiful in its own way. A story of courage, acceptace of the past and learning to move on that won't let you indifferent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Self harm and Suicide attempt
Minor: Body shaming and Murder
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