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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story is entertaining and gripping. There are some scenes that really got my heart racing. This is probably best suited as someone getting used to the thriller genre. For most of the book, it felt somewhere between YA and middle grade. I enjoyed it, but also felt myself getting a bit tired by the end.
I do think the author had a hard time understanding the motivations of the villain towards the end of the story. Nico went from being someone who seemed to genuinely care about being an artist activist to just a murderer who wanted to exert power over the powerless. And the obsession with Mick felt like it came out of nowhere. The chapters from his perspective felt very jarring, more to remind the reader of the threat than to explore his character. Also, I found myself wondering how Nico has managed to buy/steal so many things. Surely you can’t just steal a person-sized kiln? Did he stake out a firework truck and have 20 backpacks ready?
I do think the author had a hard time understanding the motivations of the villain towards the end of the story. Nico went from being someone who seemed to genuinely care about being an artist activist to just a murderer who wanted to exert power over the powerless. And the obsession with Mick felt like it came out of nowhere. The chapters from his perspective felt very jarring, more to remind the reader of the threat than to explore his character. Also, I found myself wondering how Nico has managed to buy/steal so many things. Surely you can’t just steal a person-sized kiln? Did he stake out a firework truck and have 20 backpacks ready?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
my feelings about this book are really all over the place. it mostly gripped me bc i was curious to see where the story would go but i really just kept feeling like something was missing. also maybe it's bc i'm not used to the genre but some of the things that happened felt strange and some of the decisions they made felt stupid, especially in the last third of the book.
i think i just had different expectations of it
i think i just had different expectations of it
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
[Sets]
Desert mountain
Pool(swiming class)
Car
Restaurant
Partys
Street with spain houses palm trees
7-eleven
Uber
Downtown(gaslamp quarter)
Crosswalk(group on segways)
Market street
Streets
Storefronts
Alleyways
Train station
Veronica room/bathroom
pool
Uber
Warehouse(art gallery)
Pool
Police department
Veronica house
Streets
Nico uber
Art Install
Rich House in cliff
Stair Roof
Neighboor house pool
Veronica room
Mick house
Pool parking lot
Bus
Veronica house
<twitch2>
Golf cart
Art install ring of fire
Beach ocean
Riptide
Veronica house
Nico room(telephone)
Hotel(high ceilings, geometric lines
Save the bay event
Archway/outdoor corridor
Grayson Room
Banquet hall
Part 3: Buried Alive
Outside roof fall
Detective inTerrogatory
Nico'house(veroNICA/MICK HYDE)
Out the little apartment, down the dark stairs to the warehouse
Fumbles along a wall flips a switch
Piles of equipment and boxes(illuminated by a row of naked hanging bulbs)
Picture of Mick from Gala
Flaming picture
Uber(veronica)
Dark sky surbuban life
Intagram dm Liz/phone call mick mom/emails postmod cover
Bar a few doors from whole foods in Hillcrest
Far end of the bar(david)
David swinging door into the kitchen
Nico house parking lot
Climb reception area
Cavernous room(along walls, fake rocks)
Pool
Pool Locker room
Veronica House living room
Driving veronica'sMom car
Parking of across the alley from Nico'sW
Back alley movement
Stolen catering van
Coronado Bridge
Coronado Island
Edge of Coronado bridge
Part 4:fishing for people
Bridge column rapel
Boat coming in net direction
Veronica house living room
Van sealed refrigerator compartment
<twitch3>
Veronica house kitchen(google)
Salcedo police department
Warehouse maze
Oven-kiln
Veronca mom car
Veronica mick "uber"
Refrigerator van
Brush and the hills
Warehouse maze(Mick)
East
Cliff cravine climbing
Hospital
Nico's POV
QUEEN SIZE bed in veronica sis room
Climbing classes
Honda CR-V desert road
Nice hotel in DTLA
Young newcaster
Hotel room(Nico)
Desert mountain
Pool(swiming class)
Car
Restaurant
Partys
Street with spain houses palm trees
7-eleven
Uber
Downtown(gaslamp quarter)
Crosswalk(group on segways)
Market street
Streets
Storefronts
Alleyways
Train station
Veronica room/bathroom
pool
Uber
Warehouse(art gallery)
Pool
Police department
Veronica house
Streets
Nico uber
Art Install
Rich House in cliff
Stair Roof
Neighboor house pool
Veronica room
Mick house
Pool parking lot
Bus
Veronica house
<twitch2>
Golf cart
Art install ring of fire
Beach ocean
Riptide
Veronica house
Nico room(telephone)
Hotel(high ceilings, geometric lines
Save the bay event
Archway/outdoor corridor
Grayson Room
Banquet hall
Part 3: Buried Alive
Outside roof fall
Detective inTerrogatory
Nico'house(veroNICA/MICK HYDE)
Out the little apartment, down the dark stairs to the warehouse
Fumbles along a wall flips a switch
Piles of equipment and boxes(illuminated by a row of naked hanging bulbs)
Picture of Mick from Gala
Flaming picture
Uber(veronica)
Dark sky surbuban life
Intagram dm Liz/phone call mick mom/emails postmod cover
Bar a few doors from whole foods in Hillcrest
Far end of the bar(david)
David swinging door into the kitchen
Nico house parking lot
Climb reception area
Cavernous room(along walls, fake rocks)
Pool
Pool Locker room
Veronica House living room
Driving veronica'sMom car
Parking of across the alley from Nico'sW
Back alley movement
Stolen catering van
Coronado Bridge
Coronado Island
Edge of Coronado bridge
Part 4:fishing for people
Bridge column rapel
Boat coming in net direction
Veronica house living room
Van sealed refrigerator compartment
<twitch3>
Veronica house kitchen(google)
Salcedo police department
Warehouse maze
Oven-kiln
Veronca mom car
Veronica mick "uber"
Refrigerator van
Brush and the hills
Warehouse maze(Mick)
East
Cliff cravine climbing
Hospital
Nico's POV
QUEEN SIZE bed in veronica sis room
Climbing classes
Honda CR-V desert road
Nice hotel in DTLA
Young newcaster
Hotel room(Nico)
She was so many layers. One layer was sweet and shy. The next layer was dark and unpredictable. Under that, a layer of fierce dominance. She was the ocean, with its riptides and its soft, clean breeze and its beauty and its chilling, shark-filled depths.
2.5
Si toda la historia hubiera tenido la fuerza y el desarrollo de las últimas 50 páginas el puntaje sería otro.
2.5
Si toda la historia hubiera tenido la fuerza y el desarrollo de las últimas 50 páginas el puntaje sería otro.
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is all over the place, and not in the way that can be fun sometimes.
Where do I even begin? Nothing in this book felt connected in the least. Mick was trying to do...something by participating in Nico's art and letting loose? I guess? But I couldn't tell what that was. Every character in focus (except for Veronica's mom) was absolutely treading over each other's boundaries every single second and their apologies didn't matter because they kept doing it. Maybe this is just because I'm coming to this book off the edge of another toxic queer romance book that I LOVED (These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever) but it just feels like this book failed at everything it set out to do. The plot felt disjointed and the circular arguments the characters kept having were annoying. No one really learned a lesson and changed by the end of the book, or at least not in the way of learning from their wrongs and being better. Their circumstances changed so they didn't have to actually acknowledge the problems that led to everything that happened.
The ending is open-ended which works I suppose, though I think the villain reveal had no build-up at all besides maybe one throwaway line that no one actually gave gravity to in the story so you as the reader don't either. The murder mystery was no mystery at all because pretty much as soon as you find out it IS a murder rather than an accident, you found out who did it. Just not impressed with the plot overall.
Also, I don't see a single reason why this book has the phrase "Inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray" in the blurb when I couldn't see a single plot point that tied the two together, other than the fact that there were artists in both stories. That's it.
Didn't enjoy this.
Where do I even begin? Nothing in this book felt connected in the least. Mick was trying to do...something by participating in Nico's art and letting loose? I guess? But I couldn't tell what that was. Every character in focus (except for Veronica's mom) was absolutely treading over each other's boundaries every single second and their apologies didn't matter because they kept doing it. Maybe this is just because I'm coming to this book off the edge of another toxic queer romance book that I LOVED (These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever) but it just feels like this book failed at everything it set out to do. The plot felt disjointed and the circular arguments the characters kept having were annoying. No one really learned a lesson and changed by the end of the book, or at least not in the way of learning from their wrongs and being better. Their circumstances changed so they didn't have to actually acknowledge the problems that led to everything that happened.
The ending is open-ended which works I suppose, though I think the villain reveal had no build-up at all besides maybe one throwaway line that no one actually gave gravity to in the story so you as the reader don't either. The murder mystery was no mystery at all because pretty much as soon as you find out it IS a murder rather than an accident, you found out who did it. Just not impressed with the plot overall.
Also, I don't see a single reason why this book has the phrase "Inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray" in the blurb when I couldn't see a single plot point that tied the two together, other than the fact that there were artists in both stories. That's it.
Didn't enjoy this.
Veronica is a photographer. Mick hates getting her picture taken. When they meet, sparks fly, and they soon get into an intense relationship that may not be entirely healthy as they encounter an underground illegal art scene that may be more than they bargained for.
My full thoughts for this will be in an upcoming vlog before the year is out, so if you don't want to be spoiled for my thoughts, read no further!
What did I think of this? I'm definitely conflicted. Let's start with what I loved, before I go onto what I didn't love and what I'm unsure about. First off, I was really into the writing. I loved how all of the art stuff was described, it really painted a picture (wink, wink) in your mind that will stand out for a long time. I love books that have to do with art, and I'm really interested in the side of the art scene that is disruptive or activist or somewhat performed. This was also one of the most digestible books I've read in a long time; I was absolutely flying through the pages like they were air, never once getting distracted or looking at the page count. I loved the high stakes of this. This felt pretty no-holds-barred in terms of what could happen to the characters. The pacing and plot were solid, even if I'm less sure about the ending.
Next, what I disliked. Mick and Veronica's relationship is at the center of this story. I get why they are into each other, but they seem to actually develop the relationship off the page. That really bothered me. I need to have a reason to be invested in this relationship.
Last, what I'm conflicted about. And that's quite a bit. I'm not sure I loved how this relationship was portrayed? Is it supposed to be a loving relationship - in which case it missed the mark because we see them argue too much for that - or is it supposed to be a toxic one - in which case the ending in regards to the relationship makes no sense, they don't feel like they've changed their patterns. Then there's the fact that this is inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray. I thought this was going to be more of a retelling, but it really was more like a starting point for the rest of it and the archetypes/dynamics of our three main characters. I was expecting more themes that would be similar to those in the original, and I didn't think this had that; I'm conflicted on whether I should fault the book for that?
Overall, this was a fun and fast paced YA thriller that I absolutely blasted through. I'm not sure about how some non-thriller things were executed, but I definitely would trust the writing and the thriller aspects from this author again. I'll definitely be looking into her adult titles.
Mini spoiler thoughts because I can't do this review without alluding to it:
My full thoughts for this will be in an upcoming vlog before the year is out, so if you don't want to be spoiled for my thoughts, read no further!
What did I think of this? I'm definitely conflicted. Let's start with what I loved, before I go onto what I didn't love and what I'm unsure about. First off, I was really into the writing. I loved how all of the art stuff was described, it really painted a picture (wink, wink) in your mind that will stand out for a long time. I love books that have to do with art, and I'm really interested in the side of the art scene that is disruptive or activist or somewhat performed. This was also one of the most digestible books I've read in a long time; I was absolutely flying through the pages like they were air, never once getting distracted or looking at the page count. I loved the high stakes of this. This felt pretty no-holds-barred in terms of what could happen to the characters. The pacing and plot were solid, even if I'm less sure about the ending.
Next, what I disliked. Mick and Veronica's relationship is at the center of this story. I get why they are into each other, but they seem to actually develop the relationship off the page. That really bothered me. I need to have a reason to be invested in this relationship.
Last, what I'm conflicted about. And that's quite a bit. I'm not sure I loved how this relationship was portrayed? Is it supposed to be a loving relationship - in which case it missed the mark because we see them argue too much for that - or is it supposed to be a toxic one - in which case the ending in regards to the relationship makes no sense, they don't feel like they've changed their patterns. Then there's the fact that this is inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray. I thought this was going to be more of a retelling, but it really was more like a starting point for the rest of it and the archetypes/dynamics of our three main characters. I was expecting more themes that would be similar to those in the original, and I didn't think this had that; I'm conflicted on whether I should fault the book for that?
Overall, this was a fun and fast paced YA thriller that I absolutely blasted through. I'm not sure about how some non-thriller things were executed, but I definitely would trust the writing and the thriller aspects from this author again. I'll definitely be looking into her adult titles.
Mini spoiler thoughts because I can't do this review without alluding to it: