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Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Suicide, Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Abandonment
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Alcohol
Minor: Cancer
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder
Graphic: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
What stands out right away is that each POV has a unique voice. They are all distinct with varying degrees of reliable narration and it's only when two perspectives recount the same sequence of events you can suss out what really happened.
The story is crafted incredibly well as it generates empathy and disgust for Oliver at the same time. He grew up lonely and neglected, it doesn't justify any of his behaviour but you understand how he was made.
I was surprised by the ending but really enjoyed how things came together. So happy to start 2024 with such a strong novel.
Moderate: Domestic abuse
It was so darkly interesting to read how Oliver compartmentalised and rationalised what happened at first, the detached way he "took responsibility" but in a way where he thought of it as him making a simple miscalculation. It was genuinely scary (in a very realistic, daily-horror kind of way) how he shifted more and more of the blame onto Alice the longer he thought about it, ever so nonchalantly.
The flashes into the group's lives do well at shining a light on Oliver, not to excuse him or the kind of man he is, but to perhaps explain him - never granting so much sympathy that you forgive him (the way he treated Eugene was especially cruel and upsetting), but not so little that he doesn't seem human.
The characters' backgrounds and personalities and the timeframes and history of the locations we visit are all so detailed and thoroughly thought-out. The plot slowly twisting and unfolding through the book was... I already used the word "fascinating", but that's the only term that seems to fit. It kept me hooked, and I finished the book in only a few hours.
Details: Alternating POVs, first-person, past tense
Favourite character: Madame Veronique
Happy ending?: No
Favourite quotes:
I expected more of a reaction the first time I hit her.
I really shouldn't be mean about him. I hate to be uncharitable. To me, he was like an unwanted pet. You don't want him around and yet you don't really want to hurt him or for him to come to any harm. He loves me, I suppose, and that is the cross I have to bear.
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury