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annagwritesandreads's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
Thank you Jennifer for allowing me to review this ARC of Burying Eva Flores.
I have very mixed feelings around this book, so I am giving it a 3.5/5 stars.
General description: Sofia and Eva are constantly at odds. Sofia is an off the beaten path type of girl, while Eva is Tik Tok famous. They seemingly come from two separate worlds, intent on destroying each other. When Sofia receives a gift that allows her to control Eva's life, she doesn't say no. But does Sofia go too far? Who will make it out unscathed and OF COURSE: who buried Eva Flores?
The good:
- Once you understand what's going on (mainly near the end) the book is really hard to put down!
- The side characters are interesting
- The vibes of the story are perfect for a spooky read if you're looking for one.
- The VILLIANS?! I love a good villain and there are many of those.
The unsure:
- The first half of the book I was very confused in term of timeline, who the major players truly were.
- We'd get these half nuggets of information about characters that were not fully fleshed out, even up until the end. I had questions about Ethan's dad for most of the book, Eva's dad, and Eva's mother.
- Sofia in general is meant to be an unlikeable character I think, but I feel like it was too much for me.
- Sofia explores a relationship that personally I felt very uncomfortable reading, mainly because of how Sofia was processing the relationship. I think if I was more aligned with her thought process, I would have been less uncomfortable.
In short: If you're looking for a good spooky read and can push through the confusion of the beginning, this is a great book for you! There are of course pop culture references, so be aware.
I have very mixed feelings around this book, so I am giving it a 3.5/5 stars.
General description: Sofia and Eva are constantly at odds. Sofia is an off the beaten path type of girl, while Eva is Tik Tok famous. They seemingly come from two separate worlds, intent on destroying each other. When Sofia receives a gift that allows her to control Eva's life, she doesn't say no. But does Sofia go too far? Who will make it out unscathed and OF COURSE: who buried Eva Flores?
The good:
- Once you understand what's going on (mainly near the end) the book is really hard to put down!
- The side characters are interesting
- The vibes of the story are perfect for a spooky read if you're looking for one.
- The VILLIANS?! I love a good villain and there are many of those.
The unsure:
- The first half of the book I was very confused in term of timeline, who the major players truly were.
- We'd get these half nuggets of information about characters that were not fully fleshed out, even up until the end. I had questions about Ethan's dad for most of the book, Eva's dad, and Eva's mother.
- Sofia in general is meant to be an unlikeable character I think, but I feel like it was too much for me.
- Sofia explores a relationship that personally I felt very uncomfortable reading, mainly because of how Sofia was processing the relationship. I think if I was more aligned with her thought process, I would have been less uncomfortable.
In short: If you're looking for a good spooky read and can push through the confusion of the beginning, this is a great book for you! There are of course pop culture references, so be aware.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Blood
james1star's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial Audio for accepting me to be a reviewer of this audiobook, this is my honest review.
Basic plot summary is Sophia (high school photographer/artist) is having her life ruined by the TikTok sensation that is Eva Flores - she copies her, frames and accuses her, her family buys her house and workplace and so forth. Sophia’s friend Morgan gives her a journal which when written in the story comes to life so she uses this to get revenge on Eva and there is more sinister things going on in Eva’s home life. There’s also the plot line with another friend Ethan trying to buy a car to escape his paranoid end-of-the-world-obsessed dad. More can be expanded on but I do not care to do so and the 7.8 hours I spent *wasted* listening to this means I’m even less inclined but I shall still deliver my thoughts.
What did I like? Very little in all honestly. The mystery element and storytelling was alright. The teenage drama and angst was again okay (???) but nothing stood out. Sophia and Eva to an extent were the most developed characters with interesting aspects to their personality. Sophia’s brother Dylan was by far my favourite and I’m super pi**ed about a certain thing that I’ll explain later. Ethan and Morgan were alright but pretty one-dimensional, I believe Ethan was gay/bi (yay!) but like I don’t think it was spelled out. In terms of representation, it’s quite ambiguous as not explicitly stated so yhh.
I think the dialogue and a lot of what happened was unrealistic, cringy and gave me mega *eye roll* energy. I really don’t think teens talk like that in many parts of this book and it’s just all very ‘meh’-ey. And I know the journal coming to life aspect is quite clearly unrealistic but there’s actually other parts that made me fully question Alsever on her decisions. The messages were also like not good - I’ll expand in a sec on this. It deals with themes of grooming, sexual harassment, self harm and suicidal thoughts, fatphobia and eating disorders in an unhelpful manner with nothing really being questioned or resolved. It felt like an additional ’omg’ part at times, and then with no real conclusion… um okay. I didn’t get why we got multiple POV chapters for, it’s quite clear Sophia is the MC with most chapters and Eva is the antagonist so her parts were alright but Ethan’s and Morgan’s were just unnecessary which, combined with the tangented storylines and other things made this book a lot longer then I think it should’ve been - I also just cared less and less as it went on so I felt it dragggggggged.
Audiobook specific notes: the multi cast aspect was good, it was narrated clear and with some differences that aligned with what was happening. Ethan’s narrator was too old in my opinion for the character he was portraying. And how Dylan’s sections that were not narrated by the person doing him (i.e. the Sophia’s speaking his parts) were the typical ‘dumb’ person voice (he’s meant to have learning/mental problems) which was rather offensive I thought, like they should’ve just deepened his voice not make him sound like that. Rude and unnecessary in my opinion.
If you care about SPOILERS don’t read on. Here’s my ranting coming out now.
So around the 70% mark (I think? I don’t care so it doesn’t matter) when Aiden takes the journal and Sophia calls Dylan where he tells her this, she insults him about having no brain. This is something we’ve already been told is a common bullying tactic used against him and she’s usually the one to console and defend him. But then she goes ahead and says that!! Ummm, hun?? I get she was obvs stressed and pissed but it wasn’t his fault - pissing off Ethan and Morgan (and Eva) wasn’t enough for you was it miss Sophia? Anyways, what I am even more annoyed at is this isn’t resolved at all!! Dylan isn’t mentioned once again in the rest of the book, she doesn’t apologise or make it right like she does with the other characters. And he’s the one we all care about and love like Jennifer why did you do this? We get all this sh*t about so much but what I cared about (the adorable, kind and lovely Dylan) is just insulted and forgotten about. Ughhhh - why is no one else talking about it?!?
Sophia trying to get back at Eva by seducing her creepy - but apparently handsome - stepdad is just ewww. Thankfully it only went so far as a kiss but nope this is wrong and we all fkn know it. Do not do this! Bad behaviour. And he’s a creep for his actions too which weren’t addressed. Then Eva goes about slut shaming Sophia too, fkn hell another problematic addition that isn’t resolved. Following on…
So Eva had to basically go missing, hide out and start a whole new life just to get away from her step dad Manny?! What does that teach?! Ughhh!!!! It’s so problematic and like when you read about injustice, mistreat and general ‘eww’-ness you want conclusions and justice. But no, he gets to live his life probably being a predator to other young women. Eva did have other reasons for a new life but like the centre point was Manny. Nope!!!
There is more but I need to take my mind off this book for now so Yhh, maybe I’ll film a ranty YouTube video on it later. Bye
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Ableism, and Suicidal thoughts
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