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adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The thrills were so good with this one! It was such a fun and fast paced read. Even though I could predict some of the things that happened, it was a good time!
As we started to learn about the connection between Floyd and Noelle, it was very easy to sense that Noelle couldn't get pregnant. All the pieces fell into place as you knew the set up from the end result in the beginning of the book, but not necessarily the how or why.
How Ellie became pregnant really surprised me! I thought that Floyd was going to play a bigger part in that with Noelle, but it was really just her that was completely unhinged. The fact that she bought sperm and inseminated Ellie was appalling.
I also thought the end of Part Four was fascinating where Floyd was giving Noelle a gift, but Part Five really dropped the ball. It was too happy and easy for the characters. I wanted more drama and for it to keep up pace with the rest of the book. The fact that Blue said Floyd's aura was dark felt like it didn't really come into play.
Poppy was also an interesting character and acted so much older. I was hoping we'd find out more about why Floyd made the decisions she did.
Definitely recommend this one for people looking for a fast, fun, thrilling read!
As we started to learn about the connection between Floyd and Noelle, it was very easy to sense that Noelle couldn't get pregnant. All the pieces fell into place as you knew the set up from the end result in the beginning of the book, but not necessarily the how or why.
How Ellie became pregnant really surprised me! I thought that Floyd was going to play a bigger part in that with Noelle, but it was really just her that was completely unhinged. The fact that she bought sperm and inseminated Ellie was appalling.
I also thought the end of Part Four was fascinating where Floyd was giving Noelle a gift, but Part Five really dropped the ball. It was too happy and easy for the characters. I wanted more drama and for it to keep up pace with the rest of the book. The fact that Blue said Floyd's aura was dark felt like it didn't really come into play.
Poppy was also an interesting character and acted so much older. I was hoping we'd find out more about why Floyd made the decisions she did.
Definitely recommend this one for people looking for a fast, fun, thrilling read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Abandonment
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretty good, I thought the writing was really solid. The characters, Laurel's grief, and Ellie's disappearance felt really palpable and it was consistently well written throughout the novel. It was definitely predictable, and its quite easy to figure out what happened when the book begins so while the writing was enjoyable, this book didn't really do anything new or innovative in the thriller-mystery genre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy
Minor: Abandonment
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Definitely a dark and very heavy read, but also a great mystery with many twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seat!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Plot was all over the place, in a bad way. Poorly thought out. 30% of the chapters could have been excluded. Do these authors get paid per page or character count? How can we switch to a POV of a character who is dead, but is being written as if she’s confessing all of her sins from the future? It was very confusing and unjustified. The ending made absolutely no sense whatsoever. What was the reason for Floyd to have confessed his wrongdoings in a letter to Laurel, then take a train to another town just to kill hisself? Surely, he could have just killed hisself without fleeing to another town. Especially since it’s not like he committed suicide in a different city to prevent Poppy from finding out, because she ends up knowing shortly after the fact. For Noelle to have been so “obsessed” with not only Ellie, but also Floyd and wanting a child with him, it felt very forced to have her kidnap Ellie, hold her hostage, rape and impregnate her with SOMEONE ELSE’S sperm, not even Floyd’s 🤦🏽♀️ just to let Ellie die, and not take care of her child. Noelle was written to be this psychopath who is strange, quirky and really obsessive, but it all felt incredibly underdeveloped. As if the author did no research and thought that having Noelle do these weird/quirky things was going to be enough to get that idea across to the readers. It wasn’t. Prime example would be the hamsters. Everything felt forced to me. The relationships, the character’s flaws, the timelines, the interactions, the abuse/neglect, literally everything. This book really solidified the fact that I hate reading books that have children in them. Poppy is nine-years-old but is written having much too mature vocabulary and conversational skills, and made entirely too aware. The backstories were extremely flat as were the characters. The connection between SJ and Laurel was for what purpose? Other than for SJ to be the one to “egg” Laurel on to continue looking into the disappearance of Noelle by telling Laurel she saw Noelle’s stomach completely flat when Noelle was allegedly very pregnant. Poppy’s “cousins” and “grandma” storyline’s were unnecessary. The last nail in the coffin for me to officially “one star” this book was Hannah and Theo. Why make Hannah and Theo (Ellie’s boyfriend) become a couple and get married? As if the whole situation isn’t strange enough. Having Ellie get kidnapped, raped and impregnated by Noelle her math tutor, Noelle do all of these terrible things to Ellie just to secure her relationship with Floyd. Floyd date Ellie’s mother Laurel, while also raising Ellie’s daughter as his own despite knowing it’s not his child and how she was conceived. Then just when you think this is complicated enough, why not have the boy Ellie was dating when she died get married to her sister. What?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great on audiobook. I recommend speeding it up to at least 1.25x, because the narrator speaks veeeerryyyyy slow. Other than that, the narration is amazing.
I got very frustrated with Laurel a few times. I realized while reading this book, that I do not care for naive women (or men for that matter) in a story. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her, and ask her “what are you thinking?! Are you really that stupid?!”, a few times. Maybe I am being too harsh though… I tend to assume the worse about a person, where most people assume the best, I think 🤷🏼♀️
Anyways, overall, a great mystery thriller, and I would recommend. Even made me get teary eyed at the end… which is saying a lot, for quality of storytelling.
I got very frustrated with Laurel a few times. I realized while reading this book, that I do not care for naive women (or men for that matter) in a story. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her, and ask her “what are you thinking?! Are you really that stupid?!”, a few times. Maybe I am being too harsh though… I tend to assume the worse about a person, where most people assume the best, I think 🤷🏼♀️
Anyways, overall, a great mystery thriller, and I would recommend. Even made me get teary eyed at the end… which is saying a lot, for quality of storytelling.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the first novel I read by Lisa Jewell and it did not disappoint! I was captivated from the very beginning. I was running scenarios and trying to answer WHO, WHAT, WHERE & WHEN. I rated it a shy of 5 stars just because it started to get predictable in the middle. I do love the POVs of the characters. However, I’m curious to know the POVs of the others’, like the father, the sister, the brother and the boyfriend.. But overall, I enjoyed reading it. A page-turner for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
Moderate: Rape
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Murder, Abandonment
Moderate: Suicide
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Other things I liked: the differences in narrative voice are very well done. Though the story begins to shape up fairly early (in the first third) I was still fully engaged throughout the rest, as answers only opened up more interesting questions. The writing itself was also very lyrical and nice. Read this!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Abandonment
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Minor: Death of parent