Scan barcode
rachelunabridged's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I found this to be a really disappointing read. I was on-board at the beginning and thought it had a great set-up. Sadly, the further I read, the worse it got.
For one thing, it was just physically painful for me to keep watching the main character make increasingly stupid decisions. Also, I just found her choices and actions to be absolutely wild for someone who's supposed to be a psychologist. (Not saying that psychologists inherently make correct decisions, just the nature of her actions was what I thought was kind of hard to swallow.) Toward the end of the book, I was ready for her to be caught in her manipulations and maybe arrested or something because, yikes, did she do some morally reprehensible things throughout this book!
Main character aside, this book also hit one of my big plot pet peeves: the author lying to the reader.The "twist" of the book is that Becca's secret mother who no one knew about was actually the one who was harassing Heather. We're told throughout the book that Lauren is Becca's mother, with no indication otherwise and no breadcrumbs to be able to figure it out for ourselves. So not only does the author try to pull a "gotcha!" by straight up lying to the reader, the mysterious antagonist of the book is also someone that you'll never get the opportunity to figure out because you don't know she even exists. In a book with such a heavy mystery plot, this was just so frustrating to me.
Ultimately, I just felt cheated by this book. I like to go into books as blind as possible, but if I'd known how this book ended, I wouldn't have finished it, to be completely honest.
For one thing, it was just physically painful for me to keep watching the main character make increasingly stupid decisions. Also, I just found her choices and actions to be absolutely wild for someone who's supposed to be a psychologist. (Not saying that psychologists inherently make correct decisions, just the nature of her actions was what I thought was kind of hard to swallow.) Toward the end of the book, I was ready for her to be caught in her manipulations and maybe arrested or something because, yikes, did she do some morally reprehensible things throughout this book!
Main character aside, this book also hit one of my big plot pet peeves: the author lying to the reader.
Ultimately, I just felt cheated by this book. I like to go into books as blind as possible, but if I'd known how this book ended, I wouldn't have finished it, to be completely honest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism and Animal death
sarah984's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book is written in a "then/now" format, with every second chapter being a flashback to when the main character was thirteen. The flashbacks were interesting and exciting (and tragic since you already know how that story ends), and the kids felt realistic to me. Yes, they acted ridiculous but they were children still learning about themselves and the world.
The present chapters were another story. Heather is just constantly making the most unbelievable decisions. She will think of something she should do that would actually help her and then just not do it. She stalks a bunch of other characters for no reason (she never seems to actually have a goal in mind when she does it). It's hard to care about her one way or the other because it's never really clear what she's trying to do.
Parts of the ending worked for me and some parts didn't, but it was interesting to see the threads come together.
The major thing I don't understand is why the blurb called the book feminist when it doesn't seem to have much to say about gender. It takes more than a few female characters and an offhand remark about how true crime enthusiasts tend to be more interested in killers than their victims to be feminist in my opinion. If you're looking for a book with a message, this isn't it.
The present chapters were another story. Heather is just constantly making the most unbelievable decisions. She will think of something she should do that would actually help her and then just not do it. She stalks a bunch of other characters for no reason (she never seems to actually have a goal in mind when she does it). It's hard to care about her one way or the other because it's never really clear what she's trying to do.
Parts of the ending worked for me and some parts didn't, but it was interesting to see the threads come together.
The major thing I don't understand is why the blurb called the book feminist when it doesn't seem to have much to say about gender. It takes more than a few female characters and an offhand remark about how true crime enthusiasts tend to be more interested in killers than their victims to be feminist in my opinion. If you're looking for a book with a message, this isn't it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking
Moderate: Car accident, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Torture
Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Vomit
More...