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underhill'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Violence and Sexual assault
Minor: Misogyny
lensbooks14's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Misogyny, Bullying, Gore, Blood, Murder, Vomit, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Sexual assault
hayleythegoose's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Sexism, Violence, Animal death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Gore, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Stalking, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny
Moderate: Cursing and Bullying
Minor: Self harm
giulianalb99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Rape, Self harm, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Drug use, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Cursing and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
thyroyalreader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Stalking, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Alcohol, Child death, Blood, Misogyny, and Death
kt2e56's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Very much looking forward to reading more from her.
Graphic: Death, Rape, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcoholism, Stalking, Suicide, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Vomit
bookishkale's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
First of all, I enjoyed all of the characters! I found them endearing, and I was desperate to know what happened to the Hollow sisters, where did they go so long ago? Vivi is a little grating at the beginning but I really enjoyed her character in contrast to Grey and Iris by the end of the book. Vivi is also queer, but it's done in a super casual way, which is nice to see every once in a while. Tyler is a highlight, and he adds a great dynamic to Vivi and Iris as they search for their sister. Iris' characterization makes so much sense. She's the youngest of three girls, the older two were rambunctious and rebellious, and in turn, Iris was quiet and well in order. She grapples with her identity vs her sisters, wanting to be like them, but also, trying to find herself. She's not naive like the book almost makes her out to be, since she is not as cool and interesting as her older sisters, but I never found her to be. She's the smartest one in the book and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this world through her eyes. Her character growth by the end was well worth it. One of the best narrators I've read in a while.
For the plot, this is where I docked points. I loved that the story was centered around the three girls and their relationship with each other. I have two older sisters, so Iris, I get you. The book does not shy away from the grotesque body horror elements that a story like this needs. I just felt the pacing was off, I don't know how to explain it. I felt like the last half of the book was fantastic, but the beginning is a little slow. I just feel like it takes too long to get where they were going and the plot suffers a bit from that. But overall, everything ties up in the end, (really well, might I add!), and that's really all that matters to me. I did predict one of the mysteries, but for the question of the Hollow girls... I wasn't expecting it, and it was really well done! I applaud the choice! I think this story could have been better if Sutherland upped the age range for this book, and just went all in, no whammies.
And I cannot end this review without gushing about the imagery! Krystal Sutherland does a fantastic job of putting you right there with Iris as she experiences these horrific events. I was obsessed with each disgusting thing that she describes. I had to gag at some points because it was so realistic. I'll be thinking about the imagery in this book for a while. The book wraps you up in this nightmare with them, as it swallows you whole.
Overall, highly recommend this book for the spooky season! I'd avoid it if you can't handle any amount of horror. I can handle some so I think this book is fine if you like to watch the occasionally scary movie with friends but don't watch anything scary by yourself. It's mostly just super creepy, but I know people can be super sensitive to things! This book does not shy away from the creep factor. Be sure to check out the rest of the trigger/content warnings for this book!!
I look forward to what Krystal Sutherland releases next!
Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Stalking, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
Moderate: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Bullying, Death, Child death, and Murder
Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse
emily_mh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Death, Vomit, and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Stalking, Drug use, Suicide, Child abuse, Cursing, Body horror, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Violence, Child death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Misogyny, Animal death, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Car accident, Excrement, Physical abuse, Bullying, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Self harm, Sexism, Mental illness, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
HP reference. Moderate warnings for loss of a loved one, missing child, drowning, self injury, insects. Minor warnings for stillbirth, internalised misogyny.frankiejo'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
this was an incredible read that I tore through in less than a week. a definite page turner if there ever was one.
to be honest, the beginning left me a little bit worried. while i very much enjoyed the atmosphere and mood that beginning set, i felt at the start that things were a little overdescribed/overwrought/overdramatic, what have you, and that the exposition was a little heavy-handed and unsubtle, interrupting the narrative to explain what the girls were like as young children, or telling us their personalities, or describing the past reactions to their disappearance. i think the book could have benefited from a chapter or two at the beginning, maybe one showing their disappearance and the immediate aftermath, and the second showing their return and subsequent weirdness? the prologue could still be the same, because it's a brilliant hook, so it would be prologue - flashback - flash-forward - continue as written. i think that would have helped with the sometimes heavy handed exposition.
but these issues either dissapear completely or become negligible in the face of this book's fantastic middle and ending—or, like half the beginning, the middle, and the ending. i don't know, structure points like that are blurry as hell.
i honestly could not tell you if the exposition was poor after the beginning—it certainly seemed like less of an issue to me, but it might have just been so good i completely ignored it. the twist (which i wont spoil) is brilliant. it was perfectly executed. just enough clues and foreshadowing were given that i almost guessed it (i guessed something kind of similar, i had one major element wrong) but it wasn't obvious, although in hindsight there are definitely enough hints to guess the twist in its entirety, which isn't a bad thing! in fact i think its a good thing.
another thing i like about the twist is that i think the book would still work if you went in already knowing it. i feel like today we act like knowing a spoiler is the worst thing that could ever happen to a reader or viewer, especially with franchises like Marvel not even telling their actors the context for the scene they're doing to avoid them accidentally spoiler their Sacred Movie, but my honest opinion if that if knowing a spoiler ruins your movie's/book's/tv show's rewatch/reread value. and i just put this book down and i already want to reread it to see all the foreshadowing i missed. like go through with a highlighter and everything, haha. so if you already know the twist, don't worry, there is still plenty of value in the book, youll just have a different kind of fun realising all the foreshadowing i may have missed!
also, the ending leaves plenty of room open for a sequel if Sutherland wants to write one, but it's still a satisfying ending if there is no sequel, which is a skill!
all in all, a brilliantly plotted and executed read, with a slightly rocky beginning more than made up for once the ball gets rolling.
rep; bi main character, lesbian major character, gender-nonconforming major characters, korean major character
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Vomit, Child death, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Blood, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Murder, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Suicide
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Drug use, and Misogyny
moderate nudity, moderate smoking, graphic binge eating, graphic bugs (entomophobia trigger),lindseygetsliterary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Vomit, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Death of parent, Suicide, Kidnapping, Sexism, Rape, and Child death
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, and Stalking