Reviews with content warning for Car accident - This is Where We Talk Things Out

I was surprised at how short the book was. I was hoping for something a little bit longer than 92 pages but the story pretty much starts from the word go and drives very quickly to its climax. As someone who doesn't have a good relationship with their mother this book hit very close to home but my main issue of the story is the lack of common sense of our protagonist, Miller. She gives her mother all the power in setting up this mother-daughter trip and does nothing to ensure others known where this trip is going to be at in the first place. At least get the Find My Phone app, Mills.

Also I thought maybe the Mom, Slyvie was going to act as if she also had Alzheimer's, like her late husband, in order to garner sympathy from Miller and lure Miller into a false sense of security before revealing the trap her daughter was in, but no, Sylvie is just letting her crazy show. Not a fan of the ending either because I wanted Miller to make it out of there instead of crashing the truck and being held captive. It just feels like the book isn't finished

. I will say that I do like the constant tension and release of the conversation with mother and daughter. You can tell Miller has learned to stand up for herself and knows her mom's tricks when it comes to manipulation. Also the levels of dread that Sylvie made me feel was great. 2.5 out of 5 mostly due to the shortness of the book and the ending.

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hayleeenikole's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.75

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nika_nix's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. This was messed up, creepy as fuck and packed a huge punch in less than 100 pages. I am amazed and very, very disturbed. Have I read my favorite horror of the year already?

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vixenreader's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Note to self: listen to your gut instinct and never get into a car with your emotionally-abusive relatives.

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mfrisk's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is an incredibly tense and stressful deep dive into a toxic mother/daughter relationship with a story that references Misery, The Shining, and Psycho. As many have noted there are two major twists and I did see one of them coming but wasn’t clear how the ending would sort out. As depressing as it is though it seemed fitting that that is what we are building to.

I really enjoyed this short novella read and would highly recommend it to those who are looking for something dark and psychological.

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