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mary_do_12'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicide
Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Stalking, Religious bigotry, and Blood
_rowan_'s review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Suicide, Child abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
merle98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Classism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization
ejsimpson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Drug use, and Alcohol
christinewonder's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Child death
Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Blood, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Abortion
Minor: Drug use and Drug abuse
brianna2811's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, and Self harm
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Confinement
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Medical content, Pedophilia, Drug use, Dementia, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
loyloy_bluesky's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
I have a mix of "this is meant to be voyeuristic and is a commentary on the hypocrisy of the neighbours boys and their delusions of "knowing" the Lisbon girls" and "this is a very creepy view of teenage girls that lacks depth and ultimately dehumanises and oversexualises them".
i expected the book to be from the perspective of the girls, so was intrigued at the start when i realised it was from an unnamed neighbour's point of view, but then by the end i really wished it was from the girls' points of view. my favourite moments were the little shows of the girls' real nature - the chattiness at the dance, Therese's radio conversations, the sharing of music over the radio. So probably these moments made me enjoy the book, but there weren't enough of them.
I found myself getting bored of the long descriptions of the characters being interviewed who would never be brought up again, and disappointed that there was no "conclusion" or even an explanation of the reasoning of the interviews - were they just being nosy? did he grow up to be a detective? why would people (especially the parents) answer these questions if it wasn't an official thing?
Also, there was so much attention on Lux (obviously as the most outwardly sexual and therefore easiest to sexualise), but i really would've loved more on the other sisters, especially Mary and Therese. it's quite creepy that only cecelia, bonnie and lux, as the youngest sisters, got attention - possibly a commentary on oversexualising young girls? but again i think this book lacked a Moment or Epiphany that showed it really was a commentary on society rather than another piece of the society itself.
one last thing, there's not really any payoff by reading the book. you don't get any deeper understanding of the girls, why they did what they did etc., and you know even before reading it what the ending will be, and they keep mentioning throughout how the girls will be dead by the end, so it sort of felt unnecessarily long considering you know whats gonna happen. i saw a review though that said it was meant to put you into the perspective of the neighbours who also had no idea of the details, which is a better way of looking at it, but again probably too long of a book (and it isn't even that long, only 240 pages)
The writing was very flowery which was nice at times, i found myself wanting to underline descriptions that stood out to me, but sometimes it was over the top and became hard to read. Mixed feelings and unsure of what rating to put but i will stick with this for now and it might change once i have mulled it over a bit longer
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Confinement, Eating disorder, Stalking, Blood, Grief, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
i_love_b00ks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Racial slurs, Alcohol, Drug use, and Drug abuse
absolute_gemma's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicide
Moderate: Mental illness, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
meghanhelent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Alcohol, Child death, Addiction, Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Death, and Grief