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cloud_doggos's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I’d heard a lot about this book a few years ago and picked it up. I really enjoyed reading it. The endearing characters with flaws and the microcosm of The Sinclairs private island are a bittersweet escape to read through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Self harm
xabbeylongx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- 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
2.0
Spoilers Ahead:
This book has been raved about all over TikTok, and I finally found it in a charity shop and wanted to see if it lived up to its name! Honestly, it was a pretty decent book, but it wasn’t anything special.
We follow Cadence as she makes her way through the summer. Beforehand, she had a lot of good memories of her and her three other friends. They called themselves the Liars, Cadence, Gat, Mirren and Johnny. They would spend every summer together. Cadence had a very big crush on Gat, and it was difficult to see if he felt the same way sometimes, but she loved him. After an incident where she loses her memory, she goes back for the summer.
All of the Liars are pulling away from her, and there seems to be an awful lot of arguing in their family, and lots of tears. Cadence feels so alone, and weird with her memories. She starts giving away stuff, and acting weirdly, as her memories start to return. It’s only then that she finds out that all of her friends died in the incident.
They had decided to start a fire, as every person in the family was fighting over who would get what when their dad died, and they just wanted it to be peaceful again. So, they set fire to the house, thinking it would solve all of their problems…
It didn’t.
Mirren, Johnny and Gat all died, and it took her memories coming back for her to know. Once she finds out, after being told by them (their ghosts were trying to make sure she was okay) she says goodbye to them, as they had hung on for too long anyway. They waded into the sea and Cadence said a final goodbye to them. She stopped giving everything away - she was doing it out of guilt - and she decided to do better for her friends, who didn’t get to do everything that they wanted to do.
I thought the whole concept was very cool. I knew that somewhere towards the ending there would be a plot twist, and I was expecting it to be that she was dead, not that the others were all dead. I think it’s so sad, watching her gain back her memories, only to realise that she caused all the deaths. Especially the dogs, that was gut-wrenching. And finding out she’s been talking to them all this time? Just stab me in the eye, it will hurt less. I wasn’t overly thrilled by the book. I thought the style was very cool, and it’s a very simple book to read, but it’s not all that bad. A little overhyped, I must say, but it’s not a bad book. I think the meaning is very cool, the fact that actions have consequences, some of them life-altering, and sometimes just a simple ‘sorry’ won’t cut it. I also like how Cadence was learning of her memories as we were, I thought that was a very cool technique. I think the book is cleverly written, but just not as thrilling as I thought it would be. Still worth the read, though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Self harm, Death, Animal death, Drug use, Child death, and Murder
crieraylas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Grief, Racism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Murder
Minor: Misogyny, Blood, Infidelity, and Rape
theangrystackrat's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I have a lot of feelings about this book. It was powerful and sad. It was well written. I guess it did what it was supposed to do (evoke a lot of emotion and keep me guessing about the MC pretty much until the end). But I can't say that I enjoyed it. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T LIKE DEATH OF ANIMALS OR PEOPLE.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
Moderate: Toxic friendship
medini_l's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Animal death, Classism, and Death
kotletka_polina's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I reread it for the prequel.
I read this book back in 2016 and was confused to see this book blew up on TikTok in 2022??
Idk a lot of people have strong feelings about this book, I remember reading it for the first time and I was flabbergasted: the plot twist, the writing style. But I was like 12?? It’s a pretty disturbing and sad book but it’s y/a so idk why people expect it to be great.
Personally I didn’t quite get the whole point when I read it for the first time, I didn’t understand the ending and overall was pretty much confused for the most part, but reading it now I cried. It’s not the best book I’ve ever read but it’s decent quick read the plays with your head. Nice.
I read this book back in 2016 and was confused to see this book blew up on TikTok in 2022??
Idk a lot of people have strong feelings about this book, I remember reading it for the first time and I was flabbergasted: the plot twist, the writing style. But I was like 12?? It’s a pretty disturbing and sad book but it’s y/a so idk why people expect it to be great.
Personally I didn’t quite get the whole point when I read it for the first time, I didn’t understand the ending and overall was pretty much confused for the most part, but reading it now I cried. It’s not the best book I’ve ever read but it’s decent quick read the plays with your head. Nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Child death, Death, and Medical trauma
violet_viper's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Racism
rene_reads02's review
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Plot twist of the century. I really didn’t see it coming a hundred miles away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Child death, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Racism
angeldevoursliterature's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Woah. That was an unexpected twist. I noticed the pacing of the first 3/4 of the story was slow... abt midway I was always like 'when will there be a sudden turn of events or smth' :|
Some parts were kinda tedious but I still managed to read through them. It was a good book though.
Some parts were kinda tedious but I still managed to read through them. It was a good book though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Cursing
renegadereads's review
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death
Moderate: Self harm and Schizophrenia/Psychosis