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Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual violence
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Alcohol
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Violence, Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault
What led me to drop my overall rating was the second half of the book. I can't pinpoint where exactly it started but I suspect it was around the time I realized that there wasn't just one or two illicit affairs taking place in this small town, but nearly EVERYONE had had (or was having) MULTIPLE sexual relationships or hookups with everyone else. And it wasn't like people were ashamed or even hiding it as there were several instances of characters being aware that their significant other was cheating on them and they used that knowledge as license to go have sex with someone else. One character is even described as having a different person hanging their house around every day and it's treated as something humorous. It's one thing to have an affair included for the shock factor (and added suspicion given that this is a mystery) but when there's this much, it just comes off as ridiculous. My enjoyment of the book was pretty much ruined by the way these affairs were normalized. And when a "romance" was eventually introduced, it was so sex-focused and given the excessive amount of sex happening all over the place, I just didn't care for more of it.
The last few chapters leading up to the finale were a little confusing to me. I also found the reveal and resolution to be on the weaker side - especially given how strong the things started. It felt like the author was running out of steam (and potential suspects) and needed to wrap this up. The voices/visions that Lucy experienced throughout the book were just ok. My preference would have been to remove them as they venture a little too far into magical realism for what I expected here.
I listened to the audiobook for part of the story and also read a physical copy. I would highly recommend the audiobook. The two narrators were quite talented. January LaVoy in particular was exceptionally good and I enjoyed the distinct voices she gave to the characters.
So while it was an intriguing (and mostly well executed) concept, I'd say this was more focused on the abusive and repulsive behaviors of residents of a small town than the thrill of solving a murder mystery.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault, Blood