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danigraham's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Stalking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic
amirahazhar's review against another edition
4.0
TW: pedophilia, grooming and rape.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Blood, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
moni_manngard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Stalking, and Abandonment
aliireads'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
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
milliebrierley'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
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape
crazybooklady89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
oliviareese'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
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Death of parent
all characters complicit in child abuse and child sexual abuseilliteratewench's review against another edition
4.5
The only reason this isn't a 5 star is that I'm sure sure some of the themes hold up under lots of critical thought and analysis. It was for sure a 5 star experience, I stayed up to finish it and didn't want to put it down. It's twisty and turny and you're never sure whether or not Josie and her story should be trusted at face value or not.
The things I don't think hold up with deeper thought are
Josie's husband Walter is 27 years older than her. They have been together since she was 15 and he was 42. He was a contractor doing electrical work on her family estate, as well as dating her mother. He was already cheating on his wife and two sons with Josie's mother, eventually leaving them for Josie.
Josie twists many things about Walter but these are facts that, to me, are irredeemable. The fact that Jewell tries to pull a "but he's actually a really good guy!" on us with a man who cheated on his wife, then cheated on both his wife and mistress with the mistress's underage daughter who he marries and has another 2 kids with, is insane. Especially when the mistress, Pat, claims that Josie (again, her 15 year old daughter) was a sociopath who seduced Walter to steal him from her. I'm sorry but a grown man cannot be seduced by a child unless he is a p*do. End of story.
So yeah, that leaves me really conflicted with how to rate this. But again, the experience was just so fun and juicy at the time. My rating might be inflated because I don't really read thriller, so maybe one day I'll look back critically and bump this down, but at the moment I still really enjoyed the book and the experience, but I would hesitate to recommend it for this reason.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying and Vomit
strugglecity'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
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Stalking
sophierose129's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder