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cyntea_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Child death, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, and Gun violence
ditareads___'s review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book starts off slow, the development of hell was kind of confusing and the ending felt rushed. The hells characters developed and there was a slight plot twist. Overall the chapters jumping timeliness and characters was confusing.
Content Warnings
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, and Murder
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I picked this debut up from Book of the Month and was so excited to devour this story.
"Sign Here" follows a few different points of view, but there are two main stories going on. The first storyline is Peyote's. Peyote is a man stuck working on the fifth level of hell. He has worked his way up from the first level and is entirely motivated to work his way out of hell and return to his old life. The fifth level of hell deals with contracts, and the employees are tasked with finding individuals on earth who want to sell their souls (I mean who REALLY reads all of the terms and conditions). Peyote has been working for years to get the entire Harrison family to sign their life away, and he only needs one more signature to have a complete set. Enter the Harrisons: the second main storyline. The Harrisons seem like the perfect family, but they are all hiding secrets that could tear the family apart. Every year they go to the family cabin for the majority of the summer break. This year, the teenage daughter, Mickey, is allowed to invite her new friend Ruth to come along. Everything seems to be going as good as can be expected, until Ruth becomes the center of attention for all the wrong reasons.
I was kind of expecting for this story to feel more chaotic than it did because there are so many different points of view we are following, and the timeline jumps around a lot. We get the present timeline as well as the timeline from when the parents were teenagers. There was a tragic murder of a beloved girl when they were teenagers and the father's brother was tried and convicted of said murder.
While Peyote is working in hell, he is tasked with helping the new recruit to the fifth level: Calamity. Cal's character is entirely erratic and extremely deceptive, which for a person who works in hell is good, but as a character to read about it was too much for me. She is wild and a great counterpart to Peyote's dull office demeanor, but she is also off the rails.
I think this story could have been stronger if we only got Peyote's perspective. His story was what I was most invested in because the Harrisons are just a bunch of bad people who want to think they are right. I do appreciate getting to see Peyote's "set" signing their life away and seeing what drove them to that point, but I think with the technology in hell and how Peyote monitors people, we still could have gotten that story with their points of view.
Overall, I was impressed with this story, and I cannot wait to see more from Claudia Lux in the future.
"Sign Here" follows a few different points of view, but there are two main stories going on. The first storyline is Peyote's. Peyote is a man stuck working on the fifth level of hell. He has worked his way up from the first level and is entirely motivated to work his way out of hell and return to his old life. The fifth level of hell deals with contracts, and the employees are tasked with finding individuals on earth who want to sell their souls (I mean who REALLY reads all of the terms and conditions). Peyote has been working for years to get the entire Harrison family to sign their life away, and he only needs one more signature to have a complete set. Enter the Harrisons: the second main storyline. The Harrisons seem like the perfect family, but they are all hiding secrets that could tear the family apart. Every year they go to the family cabin for the majority of the summer break. This year, the teenage daughter, Mickey, is allowed to invite her new friend Ruth to come along. Everything seems to be going as good as can be expected, until Ruth becomes the center of attention for all the wrong reasons.
I was kind of expecting for this story to feel more chaotic than it did because there are so many different points of view we are following, and the timeline jumps around a lot. We get the present timeline as well as the timeline from when the parents were teenagers. There was a tragic murder of a beloved girl when they were teenagers and the father's brother was tried and convicted of said murder.
While Peyote is working in hell, he is tasked with helping the new recruit to the fifth level: Calamity. Cal's character is entirely erratic and extremely deceptive, which for a person who works in hell is good, but as a character to read about it was too much for me. She is wild and a great counterpart to Peyote's dull office demeanor, but she is also off the rails.
I think this story could have been stronger if we only got Peyote's perspective. His story was what I was most invested in because the Harrisons are just a bunch of bad people who want to think they are right. I do appreciate getting to see Peyote's "set" signing their life away and seeing what drove them to that point, but I think with the technology in hell and how Peyote monitors people, we still could have gotten that story with their points of view.
Overall, I was impressed with this story, and I cannot wait to see more from Claudia Lux in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Stalking, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Pedophilia and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content and Cancer
tkhenry99's review against another edition
4.25
really difficult to rate
i liked it and can’t really think of anything that could’ve/should’ve been done differently, but i’m not obsessed with it?
i liked it and can’t really think of anything that could’ve/should’ve been done differently, but i’m not obsessed with it?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Child abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicide, Infidelity, and Sexual violence
therevallison's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Self harm, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Eating disorder
Minor: Pedophilia
candeegirl's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I hadn't read a book similar to this before and I really enjoyed it.
I love how Lux constructed Hell, and the office drama within it with also such an interesting backstory to both Cal and Peyote.
I also loved the family drama and mystery to the Earth family we followed- I thought I figured some of it out but it kept surprising me.
I love how Lux constructed Hell, and the office drama within it with also such an interesting backstory to both Cal and Peyote.
I also loved the family drama and mystery to the Earth family we followed- I thought I figured some of it out but it kept surprising me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm and Suicide
zarrazine's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Suicide
mondovertigo's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, Suicide, and Grief
Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Torture, and Self harm
Minor: Eating disorder, Drug abuse, and Cancer
blackcatkai's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
CW: alcohol/drug use, death, self harm, gun violence, pregnancy, gaslighting, infidelity, body shaming/fatphobia, eating disorder mentioned, torture, cancer mentioned, cults, religious bigotry, child abuse, blood, violence, some body horror, casual ableism, suicide mentioned.
i had a lot of fun with this one. it's funny, at times uncomfortable, and wholly entertaining. it had a couple small twists towards the end that i both wasn't expecting but thoroughly enjoyed.
i had a lot of fun with this one. it's funny, at times uncomfortable, and wholly entertaining. it had a couple small twists towards the end that i both wasn't expecting but thoroughly enjoyed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Child death, Violence, Death, Self harm, Blood, Gun violence, and Child abuse
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicide, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Gaslighting, and Drug use
Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Ableism, and Cancer
readingonfordearlife's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Self harm
Moderate: Suicide