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jessicake1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Grief, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, Addiction, Confinement, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Vomit, Drug use, Violence, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Classism, Death of parent, Sexual content, Bullying, Child death, and Excrement
phantomgecko'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
1.5
For one, I just couldn't relate with Erin at all. Her psychotic dependence on Silas was annoying and inexplicable. I understand it's a commentary on addiction, but all the characters just sucked so much.
Also, the author has a choking fetish or something because, boy howdy, did they use the word "throat" excessively and repeatedly depict and describe choking.
Final word, it was upsetting and not worth the message. idk
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Confinement, Death, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
ericamanami'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
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Grief, and Drug abuse
nrogers_1030'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
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Blood, Violence, Confinement, Vomit, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Classism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent and Car accident
Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Slavery, and Racism
kelseygrachek'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Vomit
Moderate: Blood, Pregnancy, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Child death, and Confinement
Minor: Cannibalism and Abortion
ambermarz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
What I liked: the detailed descriptions of gore/body horror/drug trips. the character's battle with addiction. the descriptions of mushrooms.
What I didn't like: the characters. I didn't feel for Erin at all. There was a lack of characterization for her outside her obsession with Silas. I don't even know what she looks like. The pace of the book in general. How all over the place the different themes were.
I was too lost in the multiple themes going on to see the
Overall I wanted to like it, but it fell flat. About halfway through I was really excited to see where it went, then it just went downhill. Meh. Bummer from an author I like.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Drug abuse, Self harm, Cannibalism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Vomit, Sexism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Child death and Death
dustghosts'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
2.5
+ great narration from the audiobook reader
+ a fantastic writing style that meanders through the slow moments well, evocative and high-tension at more horrific/scary scenes, overall I would read more from this author
+ some truly scary visuals / moments that felt almost made for the screen
+ at least nearer the beginning, a really well-balanced homage to a place with a complicated history, past and present
+ excellent depiction of a toxic, all-consuming relationship, and a complicated and nuanced depiction of what grief for that might look like
o not a particularly likeable cast, and the other three characters in the friend group were more vividly and interestingly depicted than our narrator, Erin. a few characters call her “empty,” though, and I think this blankness might have been purposeful
- this book is trying to handle a lot of difficult topics (grief, history and how to reckon with it, toxic relationships and friendships, addiction, the creation of “ghost stories,” and some more minor ones). sometimes it does this really well, but more often feels muddled and the pace suffers for it. not that a book can’t focus on multiple themes, but I think that leaning stronger into one or two could have helped the book to feel more focused and purposeful. (For example: we spend a lot of time talking about facing history and giving it its due, but that seems to fall by the wayside the further we get into the book, and feels unsatisfying to be reminded of again at the end when we haven’t looked dead on at any of it in some time.)
- I’m not sure whether this is a helpful or harmful depiction of addiction, and I don’t really have the tools to analyze that— will have to learn and listen more to do so properly. lots of reviewers say this does a good job of portraying the “horrors of addiction,” the destructive patterns and loss of self that can come with. to me, on a surface level, this feels often very sensationalized and demonizing of drug users— not unlike those books we would have been obsessed with in middle school. having the narrator be an addict herself, and the natural marriage of genre to subject, helps some, but I have a major issue reconciling the moralizing of the epilogue with
- as a sucker for repetition, I still felt that this book leaned a bit too heavily on it at times, and it just felt like when you start nodding along to someone as they’re speaking to you just to see them through
anyway. it was an interesting and mostly-enjoyable read, but felt like it went off the rails at some point and I’m not sure that it ever made it all the way back on
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Drug use, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Abortion, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gore