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hillary_charlotte's review against another edition
5.0
This was such an engaging story! I loved the characters and the relationships and the mystery!
mamadimo's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
hailey_alexis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
sarthak1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
sophiejinyou's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
jhovland's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Amazing narrator! Few places with dialog hearing I say, she say, he says, was annoying but was done as written. I was very engaged with the story.
exquisite_tragedy's review against another edition
4.0
This was a beautiful, slow burn mystery centered around sister relationships and the opiate epidemic. It deals with a lot of heavy themes and triggering content, but I felt like the author handled everything with care and empathy.
CWs for on page depiction and conversations about opiate use, overdoses, death, murder, police corruption
Story: 4/5
Audiobook: 5/5 (narrated by Allyson Ryan)
Length 13h19min
CWs for on page depiction and conversations about opiate use, overdoses, death, murder, police corruption
Story: 4/5
Audiobook: 5/5 (narrated by Allyson Ryan)
Length 13h19min
bookph1le's review
5.0
Really well-written and very compelling. The characters are all complex and multi-faceted, and every bit of the story fit together and felt organic, meaning I didn't think there were any of the contrivances to which far too many mystery/thrillers tend these days.
Naturally, this is also a very timely book, since it delves deeply into the problems with opioid addiction. I thought the book did a lot of humanize the problem, to show what a deep, alarming grip it has on so many people in the U.S. There is still a lot of reckoning to be done, and the effects of this epidemic probably won't be fully felt for many decades yet. This is history in the making, and I think it's going to reveal a lot about this country, about how dysfunctional a society can get when there are no social safety nets to help those who need them most.
I definitely plan to check out more of this author's work. My one quibble with it, though: the lack of quotation marks. I really, really hate that. To me it's an annoying contrivance that conspires to make parts of a book hard to follow, which is why the lack of such punctuation in books mystifies me.
Naturally, this is also a very timely book, since it delves deeply into the problems with opioid addiction. I thought the book did a lot of humanize the problem, to show what a deep, alarming grip it has on so many people in the U.S. There is still a lot of reckoning to be done, and the effects of this epidemic probably won't be fully felt for many decades yet. This is history in the making, and I think it's going to reveal a lot about this country, about how dysfunctional a society can get when there are no social safety nets to help those who need them most.
I definitely plan to check out more of this author's work. My one quibble with it, though: the lack of quotation marks. I really, really hate that. To me it's an annoying contrivance that conspires to make parts of a book hard to follow, which is why the lack of such punctuation in books mystifies me.
eachz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Pros: The way secrets were gradually revealed kept me very invested in the mystery / plot. I appreciated the compassionate lens of the novel and the research the author did to handle the setting.
Cons: Something about the narrator felt stiff and unrealistic; I found the tone of the narration just ever so slightly annoying. The resolution of the main mystery also felt a little too quick and neat. Edited to add: I read another review that articulated one of my issues with this book well -- despite the heavy/emotional topics this book deals with, the narration style (and frankly the boring-ness of the MC) was such that I didn't really *feel* much reading this other than curiosity about the plot.
Overall I enjoyed reading this; a solid read that kept me hooked for a few days!
Cons: Something about the narrator felt stiff and unrealistic; I found the tone of the narration just ever so slightly annoying. The resolution of the main mystery also felt a little too quick and neat. Edited to add: I read another review that articulated one of my issues with this book well -- despite the heavy/emotional topics this book deals with, the narration style (and frankly the boring-ness of the MC) was such that I didn't really *feel* much reading this other than curiosity about the plot.
Overall I enjoyed reading this; a solid read that kept me hooked for a few days!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence
Minor: Blood and Infidelity