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kadtide's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Death, and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Mental illness
wardenred's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Whoever said that time heals all wounds didn’t know what he was talking about. Time dulls the wounds, makes them bearable. But it doesn’t patch you up and send you on your way, good as new.
Up until the last 5% or so, I assumed it would be a 4-star book for me. It was pretty cool. I loved the writing and the characterization. But what I initially took for the dramatic reveal that converged the two timelines felt kind of... a bit lame? Too predictable? Slightly overblown?
And then came the real dramatic reveal, and asdfgjkllk WOW holy shit. I LOVE twists like that, the kind that puts half of the story I've just read into an entirely new perspective and flips a huge part of the story on its head. I feel this was quite awesomely executed here!
I also very much enjoyed the writing in general, especially the characterization. The story is told in two timelines, swinging back and forth between them. In one, the main character is a regular indie kid teen with a complicated group of friends, a toxic friendship with the group's equivalent to Alison Dilaurentis, a brand-new boyfriend, and lots of typical teenager drama revolved around balancing the friendship and a relationship. In the other one, it's a year later and something terrible has happened but we don't get to know what. Not yet. Not for a long time. So what I enjoyed very much about the narration was the combination of differences and similarities in the Ellory's voice and general outlook across the two timelines. How much she has changed between them, and how much she was clearly herself.
Overall, this felt like a milder, YA version of Elliot Wake's (formerly Leah Raeder's) books, such as Unteachable and Black Iris. As a big fan of those, I'm very glad I've read and enjoyed this one. Thanks you for the Monthly TBR Challenge on the Bookish Reality discord server for getting me to get to it! :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content
Minor: Death
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