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atamano's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Sexism
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
davinmotion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Also, the passing reference to Josh Kilmer-Purcell and his husband was not lost on me and was incredibly unexpected. I highly recommend his books if you haven’t already, for his voice is a unique look into a life many of us have likely never experienced firsthand, and his humor despite some of the circumstances he finds himself in, is fantastic.
Graphic: Drug abuse
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Murder, and Death of parent
minimicropup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
- An author feeling like a one-hit wonder. They had a best seller, but can't figure out how to follow-up in a meaningful way. They come across as self-pitying, desperate, pathetic, hopeful, entitled, ignorant, and vain, with a touch of covert narcissism.
- THE plot. The plot that was stolen. We get to read it in bits over the course of the story and it's pretty good. Semi-predictable but good.
Atmosphere 😐: Accusatory, impassioned, pretentious
We follow our MC over time from being a teacher at a small college in small town Vermont to fame in Manhattan, NY.
Cred Rating 😕: Suspend that belief
Without being OTT, this story is so OTT. THE plot isn't ground breaking, but admittedly new (I think) and quite interesting as a lit fic/thriller. As far as the plot outside of THE plot, it's a bit watered down with lots of OTT moments.
Growls and Howls 🐺:
- Long-con villain monolog. Lots of scheming, plotting, rearranging an entire life to get 'revenge' that can only be successful if multiple coincidental/convenient events occur...broke the story for me. Somehow the villain monolog worked though, because it didn't rely on someone just listening intently instead of trying to escape.
- Confusing ending requiring re-reading. The plot and THE plot eventually come together in a way where minor elements are changed (thank villain monolog for the heads-up) and ultimately I wish we had just read THE plot?
Reading Journey 🙂: Tour of a local college. Some interesting bits, potential, sparks of talent, but also a lot of polite nodding b/c not planning on applying.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
- Meta reads (book within a book and plot within a plot)
- Red herrings and amateur sleuthing
- Family secrets investigation
- Brief touches of OTT lit fic
- Unlikeable characters
- Stolen artistic IP
Vibes: 😒🤔😣
Content Heads-Up: Drug use (unintentional), Blackmail
Format: Hardcover
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Vomit, Abortion, and Suicide
Drug use refers tojkononova's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I had a couple gripes with the writing, mainly that, in my opinion, it fell a bit too into the "tell, not show" category, which felt deeply ironic and out-of-place for a book so centered around quality literature. Additionally, there seemed to be a lack of commas after introductory clauses, which made the book somewhat challenging to read out loud, especially with how long-winded some of the sentences were (not sure if this is just a problem with the Libby version of the book).
Minor: Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship
krystalframe's review
3.5
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Abortion
kcelena's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Death, Murder, Stalking, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, and Suicide
sibertooth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What's so fun about this book is that it starts out as a bog-standard MFA Dramedy – you know, with the stalled next novel and the awful student stories and all that – and then turns into a thriller while, to all appearances, keeping the MFA Dramedy scope and stakes. It is genuinely tense and gripping to read about this guy worrying that he's bargained away his self-respect and is about to lose his career.
It gets more conventional later on, and I guessed both big twists (the one in the main story and the one in the within-a-story) somewhat in advance, but that's an expected part of the thriller-reading experience, right?
Tone-wise (as opposed to plot-wise), the ending did seem to come out of left field, and that soured things a tiny bit for me. But this is still a heck of a ride.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Vomit, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, and Suicide
Minor: Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Pregnancy
ben_jammin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Child death
keijiwolf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Vomit
Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
hannahleewhite's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Murder and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Addiction and Drug abuse