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jesshart8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
scherzoseven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I wanted to like Agnes. I wanted my husband to feel seen in Agnes, but alas, she was written by a white woman who pats herself on the back for portraying Indo culture in a very othering and orientalist way. Sometimes it felt like the only reason Agnes was Indo was to make Roos look better for not being racist. Or to give Roos something new and "exotic" to react to (the scene where she cries over sambal comes to mind. Or the fact that they only ever eat spekkoek and kroepoek). Or so Roos could make a fetishistic observation about her skin or the texture of her pubes (barf).
There were so many little things about Agnes that I wish had been expanded on, like her past as a pianist or her time with her mother. Instead, the author focused on things that really would have been better handled in an Own Voices story.
Outside of Agnes, I found this book to be boring and unintentionally funny. By the end, every new horrific plot twist just made the whole scenario funnier to me. It's a gothic horror, of course we need to play trauma Bingo while a ghost throws around plaster saints, but it all just became a bit silly and over the top. We had back to back plot twists of
My immersion had been erroding for a long time by this point, but there was a bit where Roos is explaining her connections to one of the statues and actually says, outloud, "my name means rose in Dutch." The issue with that is, even though the book is written in English, it's established early on that Roos only speaks Dutch. So she is speaking Dutch with another Dutch person when she says it! Roos betekent Roos in het Nederlands?? You don't say!
By the time the epilogue hit, I was already over it all, but needed to see how it ended. I was not disappointed.
Giving this one star because my husband and I will be laughing about soft Indo pubes and Roos meaning Roos for a very long time. I also really liked Peter and Ruth and their relationships with their living people.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, and Blood
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
whatsmacksaid's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Incest, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
daniellestarredpages's review against another edition
2.0
I have to say I wasn't the biggest fan of the way the author left the existence of ghosts up to readers. As a concept I understand it but personally I felt this wasn't the story to leave that plot point open.
I was quite apathetic toward the main character and found her P.O.V a slog to get through but I also found the interspersed psychologist sessions to be slow as well, so I really can't say zi enjoyed much of the of the writing in this book.
The Sapphic relationship, I think did a good job of showing a toxic obsession. So that is one element I guess I could add to the pros list concerning this book.
Overall I can definitely say I didn't enjoy this book.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Incest, Infertility, and Miscarriage
raven_nivhaar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Riddled with melancholy and gothic charm, this book was very well written. Everything was quite vivid, and I found myself flying through this book just to see what happened next.
I didn't really care for the interviews with the doctor, which felt more like a means of increasing tension than providing much substance.
If you are squeamish with gore, the descriptions of the ghosts might be a turn off for you.
Overall, I enjoyed this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
Moderate: Racism and Blood
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Vomit
zgreyz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy
Minor: War
caidyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Death
Moderate: Racism and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
queersubtext's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Suicide
Minor: Murder
aparker89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Absolutely fantastic writing!
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism