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cerlenborn'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: Suicide and Self harm
agustdefault'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
2.0
Graphic: Self harm, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Stalking
archer_w27'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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
zea_d_writing's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
On the one hand, I think it’s written very well. The prose is well done. The pacing a bit slow but it also helps build up the sense of unease. The foreshadowing is (maybe a little too) well done. The format of the text and how it relates to the story its telling is clever.
The book starts off with the strong feeling of something being not quite right. There is a sense of being on edge as you realize that something about the MC feels off and that she’s being harassed by The Caller; a mysterious caller who sends cryptic messages at all hours of the day and night. As the story progresses through the drive to the farmhouse things become more surreal and strange. The dinner with the parents feels downright unnerving. And by the time the story arrives at the school, its very obvious that something very wrong is going on.
The tension built up in this story is very well done. And I think the author did an amazing job laying the groundwork and then pulling all of the pieces together in the end.
HOWEVER, the trope of “the terror/horror of this story is that the character is mentally ill” is a) really tired and b) extremely problematic and harmful. I don’t have the condition that this story depicts so I can’t speak on how this story handles it. But when the “twist” happened it just felt like a letdown. I could tell it was coming, it was well foreshadowed, but it was still a letdown. It wasn’t scary, it wasn’t thrilling. It was tragic and unfortunate and its such an overused “twist” that it didn’t feel like anything new or original.
Also…it can’t be argued that this wasn’t supposed to be read as a thriller/horror novel and instead was supposed to be a study of the fragility of the mind, exploration of identity, and how mental illness can warp our realities. It’s listed as a psychological thriller/horror. It’s marketed as a psychological thriller/horror. All of the reviews list it as “creepy”, “thrilling”, “terrifying”, “a twisted nightmare”…and on and on. And the story is written as a thriller; intentionally meant to be creepy and framed as a horror. And therefore the “twist” of the story just simply being that the MC is mentally ill and the “I’m thinking of ending things” actually means suicide…is tired and problematic.
As someone who struggles with mental illness, I don’t think it’s impossible to tell a thriller/horror story that features mental illness without it being problematic. I think its very possible. And I’m not saying this book did the worst job at this. I actually think the author tried to be mindful of how he handled the subject. There are absolutely more harmful depictions out there. But that doesn’t negate that this book still fell into harmful tropes.
I’m giving this 3⭐️ because I really think the author did a good job crafting the story and I enjoyed it up until the end. But the end kind of killed it for me. (Yes, I do understand the ending. I didn’t find it confusing at all. It felt well supported and fairly straightforward to me. It was just tired and problematic.)
Graphic: Suicide, Self harm, and Mental illness
Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Animal death, and Blood
bookburdy'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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Self harm, Gore, Stalking, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
durrareadsstuff's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
‼️ POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD‼️
The ending was good and I definitely didn't see it coming, but it was honestly quite a shame. I appreciate the genius of it, the repetition and how the pronouns kept changing in the end—that was really good. I was just sort of disappointed? It's like all that earlier part was for nothing, you know? I think I'm just sick of reading horror books that keep turning out like this.
Graphic: Violence and Self harm
Moderate: Sexual content
eucareads'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? Yes
3.5
The entire book is awkward and uncomfortable. Then it gets scary. Then the twist hits and it felt like a major mindf*ck.
Honestly, for a psychological thriller under 250 pages, this was worth the read. I’m curious to see how Netflix is going to make this to life.
Graphic: Self harm and Suicide
Moderate: Blood and Violence
Minor: Animal death
kibiiiariii'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? Yes
1.5
The writing itself isn't that bad, but the beginning and end of this book really are. The beginning is extremely boring and filled with superficial philosophy,
As for the characters, I cannot stand the main one, (whose POV we always follow) I was actually constantly rooting for her death. I am aware she represents more than appears at first sight, but I still find her insufferable.
On a brighter note, or darker in this case, I felt the tense and ominous environment was really well maintained from the half point onwards, but this wasn't enough to save this book for me.
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, and Physical abuse
chloevienna's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Death, Body horror, and Self harm
Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual content
ekmook'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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Suicide, Blood, and Self harm
Minor: Animal death and Stalking