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zach_off's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Death, Suicide, Torture, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
vickimarie2002's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Sexual violence, Bullying, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts
reneeschauer'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Suicide, Cancer, Sexual assault, Murder, Bullying, Rape, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
bitsyreads_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Cancer
lilawsahar'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
5.0
I can’t wait until the next book!!
Graphic: Death, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders
kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Rape, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
cassielaj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
From a thriller perspective, I did find it a bit predictable, but overall I thought the mystery was well paced.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Car accident, Grief, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gaslighting, Suicide, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Xenophobia
Detailed descriptions of a trial process. Graphic and disturbing details of manipulation, sexual assault, bullying, and more.minimicropup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
🇺🇸 Set in a fictional coastal town in North Carolina, USA
- Realistic in how survivors of sexual crimes are re-traumatized by the black-and-white approach to legal proceedings.
- Simplistic, robotic writing style. The dialogue is flat because we have no context. Did someone say "no comment" angrily, smirking, begrudgingly etc? It reads like a script with a textbook, flat writing style.
- Potentially lacklustre commentary on sexual crimes. We get the worst-case scenario (obvious evidence of rape occurring + legal loopholes that entirely depend on what the jury believes). This story isn't new to you if you are a regular true crime consumer. The legal system is broken, but how can we fix it? This isn't touched on in this novel. Instead, everything that could go wrong does. That is okay and a meaningful, realistic narrative. Still, it was diluted because our MC was so distracted to avoid the depth of the issue. We are just told that it's awful instead of experiencing it for ourselves.
- The podcast trope fails for me. Given in snippets that were anecdotes of the MC's life and not related at all to the case she was covering. But it's not like the case she covered was told to us from her POV earlier, either. She barely paid attention, and we didn't get much in the way of testimony; we were just told someone did well or didn't do well (lawyers, witnesses etc).
- Frustrating MC. She has a critical job giving her listeners the details of crucial evidence in the trial. Still, she walks out of the court when a NURSE WHO EXAMINED THE VICTIM IS TESTIFYING to take a call on a side case instead of letting it go to voicemail.
- Maybe just me, but it seemed like Rachel was trying to find a way to be as traumatized as the victims instead of reporting their stories.
- Frustrating stalker. Hannah - who invested so much time and energy to get Rachel (our MC) to cover her sister's mishandled case - suddenly disappears and becomes uninterested once Rachel is willing to cover it. Hannah sends her self-centred memoir to Rachel instead of the evidence and background on why she believes her sister was murdered.
- Direct commentary about the problems with the court and legal systems handling sexual crimes
- Contemporary fiction with touches of courtroom attendance
- Journalism (podcaster) investigation drama
Graphic: Cancer, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying and Alcohol
zianna_reads'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Bullying, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault
gen_wolfhailstorm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Narrated by Bailey Carr, January LaVoy, Samantha Desz
Unabridged
One of my late netgalley arcs, I decided to listen to via my library app.
This was riveting and harrowing read following a dual sexual assault case, one in the present day and one set in the mystery of a cover up that happened some years before.
We follow a podcast presenter investigating both cases and it was interesting to see the perspective of varying characters of what, to me, is an obviously awful crime.
The acts done to the body was so graphic and really hard to read, so please bear that in mind.
Overall, I'm glad to have finally read this, but it was a heavy, difficult read.
Graphic: Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Car accident, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Rape, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness