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ginkgoleif's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
splatteredbastard'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
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Sexual content
honeyenbee'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
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Mental illness, and Suicide
linseae'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
4.75
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
wends_nblw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
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Hrmmmmnghhhh.... I'm disappointed.
Once again, I've read a highly recommended book that unfortunately didn't live up to expectations. However, I will pat myself on the back for semi-guessing the twist about 3/4 into the book.
I didn't find the writing style to be quite appealing. I've seen others complain about the choppiness, but I found that to be the only thing appealing about it. Towards the end, it really lost me though. I feel like the twist could've been written better, but maybe it was intended to be that way.
Otherwise, I didn't find the story to be all that interesting, nor all that unsettling. But if you enjoy piecing a challenging mystery together and being utterly confused on where to place each piece, I'd say to give this book a try.
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Stalking and Animal death
Minor: Sexual content
zkoch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
jazzyreads_99'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
2.0
1. For starters, a good chunk of the book, pretty much about half of it, is literally nothing but these two characters, a young man and a young woman, bantering back and forth about different scientific and philosophical ideas and questions. It was interesting at first but you get to a point where you realize that you’re on page 68 and nothing has happened but some college kids having philosophical arguments. Now part of this philosophy banter actually has a lot to do with the ending, and pretty much the main theme of the book. Which is mostly why I decided to give this book atleast two stars; because I did like how the conversations did kind of tie in together with the ending. However, after a while, it kind of gave me the feeling that the author wrote this book just to kind of…show off his knowledge of science and philosophy? Which, I don’t mind if an author does this. But eventually, with the way it was written, and because it goes on for so long, it really started to feel like that might have been the only purpose for this book being written.
I may be wrong, and to be honest, I kinda believe that I am. I feel like Iain Reid really wrote this because he had ideas and thoughts to share. But like I said, it went on for so long, I couldn’t help but feel like I was reading the words of a an r/Iamverysmart Reddit post. But then again, the boyfriend, Jake, is pretty much one of the r/iamverysmart guys so…maybe that’s why.
2. The young woman narrates the entire book and is constantly retelling random memories from her childhood. Some of which have to do with the plot of the book but then…some of them don’t? I felt like sometimes her memories were kind of out place and odd. Like, not all of them fit.
3. The twist at the end, I saw a thousand kilometers away. From pretty much a quarter length through the book, I figured out atleast a part of the twist, to the point where once it was officially revealed, I wasn’t surprised at all, even though my initial guess wasn’t entirely correct. And to be honest, the ending left me a bit annoyed. *Small Spoiler Ahead(If u can count it as a spoiler) I just don’t enjoy the “Read this whole book, then read the ending, now dismantle and toss out basically everything you just read”, trope. I feel like it’s kind of overdone at this point.
I fully empathize and my heart goes out to anyone out there who is feeling lonely, depressed, anxious, and any of the other things that the characters struggle with in this book. I don’t want this review to make me sound insensitive to people who suffer from these things. It’s just, I really didn’t like the big twist at the end and, although I did really enjoy and appreciate Iain Reid’s analogies and philosophy on things like loneliness, isolation, confusion, and all the other big scary things of life, for some reason, this book just did not do for me what it did for other readers. And the way it “ended things” just did not stick the landing for me.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
bitchigo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Body horror and Cursing
peachani'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
2.75
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Stalking
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content
simranpahwa's review against another edition
3.25
I’ve heard Ian Reid is an amazing author and I really do still want to read Foe, but this book just kind of missed the mark for me. I’m giving it a 3.25/5 ⭐️ because I really did enjoy the suspense but the reveal felt mid.
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide