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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
This is one of her better ones! I found it less predictable, but I'm sure some people saw the main villain coming, I didn't however. There were enough villains that it was hard to tell who was truly evil and who wasn't.
There was a diversity in sexuality, with one bi/pan character, and one gay main character. But no diversity in the race of the characters, who were all white.
Overall, I found it enjoyable, though a bit darker than the author's other books. The MCs were likable but a lot of the lesser characters weren't.
Narrator(s) Rating: 4.5 stars
The narrators did an excellent job. They could have used a bit more vocal differences to characters for a 5-star rating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
eniahreads's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Once again a favorite from Karen M. McManus.
I feel like this is the darkest backstory-wise among all the characters from all of the author's books, as here we talk about domestic violence, attempted femicide, trauma from these violences, parental abandonment, etc.
I feel like this is the darkest backstory-wise among all the characters from all of the author's books, as here we talk about domestic violence, attempted femicide, trauma from these violences, parental abandonment, etc.
However there's still some part of lightness through the relationships between all 3 characters: Kat, Liam and Augustus (of who we don't have a POV). Even tho they're going through hell! It's all action packed, but it's still growing crescendo, asking what will happen next, what's going to be worse than that. We start with a little heist to end on a life or death situation.
This one is, along with "The Cousins", a book where I couldn't guess all of the plot twists, and there were so many! Some I guessed quickly, others got me thinking with the hints and guessed right, some were a "hey what if that's what happened", agreeing with the characters, etc. So I was proud to guess lots of them, but others got me surprised and that was the best! It was well done.
I like all characters with their own bagages. I loved the brotherly relationship between Kat and Liam, and there were no quiproquo at all concerning Augustus as a love interest, so there's no stress regarding a potential love triangle!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcoholism