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tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Personally, I didn’t enjoy this book. It was alright but it felt juvenile to me. There was a lot of potential with the plot but i found the characters static and lacking motives. It is a murder mystery with a shock twist ending that was surprising and frankly the only interesting thing about the book. It is a very obvious attempt at creating a dark academia atmosphere but its done lazily (ie. chucking in ancient greek and mythology references). I understand this is supposed to create some deeper meaning considering the whole plot, setting and characters are related to greek mythology but it feels clunky and tacky. This story is Michaelides’ attempt at replicating the success of The Silent Patient and you know how I know that? A filler character was added to (for no plot or character driven reason) conveniently mention the main character and key selling points of The Silent Patient. Self-promo in the middle of a alright but not entirely gripping “thriller”. I recommend this for someone into YA fiction as it is not a difficult read. It is worded to get the plot across; this works for some but I prefer a book i have to think about. The literary equivalent of a lifetime movie: time-passer that requires minimal thinking but nothing mind-blowing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder
Moderate: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Alcohol
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt