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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
I enjoyed the past sections with Louie, but the Noemi sections didn't quite click for me. Her perspective didnt sound like a 40yr old woman, maybe 20. Both characters actually sounded very similar, and the present day story line was a lot not a lot happening. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it was just the past day sections.
Also, the fatphobia was pretty egregious.
Edit:
I thought about this more and have reduced my rating. Some of the problems I had with this:
Also, the fatphobia was pretty egregious.
Edit:
I thought about this more and have reduced my rating. Some of the problems I had with this:
- Characters. Other than Louie, none of the characters really feel like anything more than one-dimensional stereotypes, 'the drunk', 'the busybody', 'the asshole'. Even the sections from Noemi's perspective really didn't flesh out her character at all. She's meant to be in her 40s I think, but her narration is so juvenile it would have been more akin to someone in their 20s, particularly the way she texts. I didn't see any reason to care about her and Roddy, who we never meet in the narrative so it's hard to share any of her grief. For the other characters, so many are introduced at once that it's hard to remember who everyone is, we get names but it's hard to tell who will be relevant to the plot or not.
- Plot. This book is so long and very little happens. This is partially compounded by the fact that it goes back and forth between two timelines, so if you manage to get invested in something, suddenly you're taken out of it.
It also wasn't clear if the supernatural threat was a vampire, or demon, or ancient spirits? It didn't feel like the author was going for ambiguity. I feel like with this type of story, there either has to be a clear threat, or it has to be way more ambiguous. This middle ground just doesn't work. - Fatphobia. I mean, many other people have mentioned this but it bears repeating. Every mention of Ern the author goes out of his way to mention how disgusting and weird and fat he is.
Even the reveal that he killed his mother by...sitting on her? seems so gross. Like, how was this book published in the 21st century? - Horror? Really this is my main problem. It's not scary at all, no tension, just a bit of intrigue (mainly based on hints of some sort of 'event' that happened) interspersed with bleak, bleak happenings. Such a shame as this had the potential to be really creepy.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes