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mfrisk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the build up of the Tox and how that shaped Raxter and those within it. The scenes with the deer and one of the character’s parents were particularly chilling in their descriptions. The dual perspective was done fairly well though I think I was waiting for more from Byatt’s side in terms of her backstory and what drove her to lie.
Things I didn’t love were the seemingly out of nowhere nature of the romance. While there were some touching moments it was a bit confusing and didn’t feel fully realized.
And finally the ending was a huge disappointment. While you think the ending would at least give us more information about the navy and cdc involvement or about the tox or even what happens next we instead are led to an ending where we determine what happens. It felt like a chapter was missing and while I wasn’t expecting a happy ending perfect wrap up I definitely didn’t expect what we got.
I hope to read more from this author as I overall really enjoyed this book but there were definitely some aspects I just wanted to see be pushed further given the darkness of the story.
Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Child death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Animal death, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Vomit and Toxic friendship
kelseyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
but lots of wlw rep i love that! and hetty was a great protagonist. i felt like her and reese didnt have a lot of chemistry tho, like i didnt hate them together but i wasnt loving it(maybe bc it felt rushed too..im more of a slowburn type of girl)
unrelated but some parts made me cringe, you know when you can just tell that an author used to write fanfiction? dont get me wrong i love reading ao3 but i dont want to read borderline fanfiction in an actual published book
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Gore
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Homophobia
june_buggie's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Body horror, Death of parent, Child death, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Abandonment, War, and Physical abuse
sinaprst's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
i picked this up because i liked the cover, so i knew basically nothing about the story whatsoever going into this
in short: the book is about a boarding school on an island were somesort of virus or diseases spread, that lead to several students and teachers dying while others grew second body parts or similar stuff. now the school and island have been on lock down for i believe 18 months, while the government tries to find a cure (alledgedly). we follow our main character Hetty and her friends Bryce (i think is her name) and Reese while they trie to survive and figure out what is going on the island.
first of all, i loved the writing style. the author used some interesting choices, especially with the second pov character later on, that might not be for everyone, but i absolutly adored them.
the beginning is very slow. the first like 60 pages felt like ages to me, because nothing really happens except for pages over pages of exposition and world building.
but after that i got hooked and couldn`t put it down
nonetheless i felt like the book lacked some depth in some parts. i couldn`t really connect to any of the characters and in end still felt like i knew nothing about them, eventhough the story is very character driven
the sapphic lovestory also felt very out of the blue
also, did Hetty and Reese really just leave the rest of the girls to die on the island, when they literally scolded the headmistress and this other girl for the exact same thing just like one page before that??? this behaviour really confused and is probably one of the reasons why the ending felt so weird to me.
all in all, i loved the cover, premise and writing style, but the characters felt shallow, the lovestory underdeveloped and the ending questionable, therefore well deserved 3/5 stars from me :)
edit: i have just found out that her name is Byatt and not Bryce
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing and Grief
Minor: Torture
elsea_readingelsea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Body horror
spelledlikesleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Death, Vomit, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Gore, Murder, Animal death, and Abandonment
minbyrnes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
That ending where
Graphic: Child death and Body horror
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Suicide
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
Moderate: Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Confinement, Suicide, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Child death, and Death
tkhenry99's review against another edition
3.5
(also for everyone complaining about how unlikeable the characters are, that is literally the point of the book)
i think the ambiguous ending was fine, it really did not leave that much room for confusion.
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, and Medical content
iguanasarespicy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Death, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, and Suicide