Scan barcode
wogslandwriter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall, I enjoyed the story and it's nuanced and less nuanced analyses of how a story is affected by the author and vice versa. Some parts were feather-light and I felt accomplished for seeing them and noticing the themes. Other parts were extremely heavy-handed and felt a little silly to read.
I think having the "real world" elements be restricted entirely to correspondence was a really smart move and really pulled the book together.
Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Blood, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Gore, Classism, Medical content, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Deportation, Alcohol, Child death, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Pedophilia
One of the main characters describes and incident from their past where a younger sibling dies in an accident. Another describes a childhood incident where a beating from a parent has pedophilic overtones, but there is an intervention before anything beyond physical violence occurs.librarymouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Murder, Racism, Mental illness, Death, Gore, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Grief, Medical content, and Gun violence
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Violence, Pedophilia, and Police brutality
bzliz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The story takes several turns and I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery along with Freddie and while I can’t say I was too shocked at the ending, there was just enough left that I hadn’t pieced together to be surprising. I believe the email subplot is the darkest part of the story because it’s meant to be the “real” world. I particularly like that although we see Hannah’s work and we see Leo’s response, we never see her directly nor do we see her messages to Leo. I just found that intriguing.
If you’re like me on occasion and need to see whodunnit, spoilers ahead:
The “real” Leo has been acting as a research resource for Hannah while he shops around his own book. He starts sending her photos of crime scenes, then bodies, claiming to have found the crime scene later but actually he killed those people and his emails get increasingly creepy with suggestions on how to brutalize characters or punish Freddie for falling for Cain. He finally tries to get to Hannah and is apprehended by Australian police. His final letter to her comes when he’s in jail.
Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, and Drug abuse
amberinpieces's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Death, Cursing, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Body horror, Classism, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
schausjk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Stalking and Death of parent
vmontori's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
In regards to Freddie’s side of things, I didn’t find any of the characters really likable, which made it hard to become invested in any of them. I hate when a group meets and is established as close, with the excuse that was just meant to be. Freddie herself was kind of boring and her romance was empty and shadowed her common sense. Cain’s personality was so blank in spite of his crazy past. Marigold was a stalker and never really got criticized for it. Whit, while being so integral to the plot, was also absent for a majority of the book.
Overall, the best part of the book was how fast it was to read.
Moderate: Violence and Stalking
Minor: Addiction and Sexual assault
ckraney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Domestic abuse, Stalking, Medical content, Death, Gun violence, Addiction, Violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Physical abuse, Murder, and Pedophilia
bekah1210's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Addiction
purplepenning's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Classism, Blood, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Medical content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, Addiction, Death, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
madisonfrank's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, and Stalking