You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
I loved it, until the end with Pearl. Too much retconning after that. I found it distasteful to write a gay male character with a backstory involving trauma from conversion therapy, and then retcon him as the author insert of a straight woman.
This book was a shoe-in for five stars while I was reading, minus one star for the convoluted ending and another for queerbaiting.
This book was a shoe-in for five stars while I was reading, minus one star for the convoluted ending and another for queerbaiting.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It almost lost me at about the 75% mark, but I stuck through and enjoyed the ending. It can be a bit confusing, as various unreliable narrators with flawed memories tell the same story from their skewed point of view.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Critical Score: C+
Personal Score: B-
This one’s tough. The first third is cozy fun. The second third is disappointing but still engaging. The third third is kind of bad until the very end, when you see just how everything fits together. That payoff is quite satisfying and saved the book a bit.
I think the main issue is that while the book is clever in its meta structure, the emotional resonance of the story falls short. So I couldn’t feel invested in much more than the twisty narrative structure. I think that comes from slightly pretentious writing and mechanical issues that made it hard to take the book seriously: implausible plot details, characters not acting their age, occasional melodrama, a try-hard approach to soulful narration, unconvincing romance across the board, and the narrators using British English (I guess that’s the copy editing team’s fault, as I think this was written to be jointly published in the US and UK? Still, American narrators wouldn’t use British English).
I went back and forth on how I felt about Ward’s approach to gender and sexuality. Ultimately, her approach might not be that deep but it’s also not as harmful as I sometimes feared when you finally see the full picture.
I adore the coastal setting, even if we only relish in it for the first 80 or so pages. The writing style is light and breezy, which took me by surprise because the only other Ward I’ve read is Little Eve. That book’s style and sensibility are so different that I’m surprised these books are written by the same person.
So overall, this is a mixed bag. The structure is impressively clever, the prose and setting are welcoming, and the first third is quite fun, but other story elements, like character and theme, don’t click for me.
Critical Score: C+
Personal Score: B-
This one’s tough. The first third is cozy fun. The second third is disappointing but still engaging. The third third is kind of bad until the very end, when you see just how everything fits together. That payoff is quite satisfying and saved the book a bit.
I think the main issue is that while the book is clever in its meta structure, the emotional resonance of the story falls short. So I couldn’t feel invested in much more than the twisty narrative structure. I think that comes from slightly pretentious writing and mechanical issues that made it hard to take the book seriously: implausible plot details, characters not acting their age, occasional melodrama, a try-hard approach to soulful narration, unconvincing romance across the board, and the narrators using British English (I guess that’s the copy editing team’s fault, as I think this was written to be jointly published in the US and UK? Still, American narrators wouldn’t use British English).
I went back and forth on how I felt about Ward’s approach to gender and sexuality. Ultimately, her approach might not be that deep but it’s also not as harmful as I sometimes feared when you finally see the full picture.
I adore the coastal setting, even if we only relish in it for the first 80 or so pages. The writing style is light and breezy, which took me by surprise because the only other Ward I’ve read is Little Eve. That book’s style and sensibility are so different that I’m surprised these books are written by the same person.
So overall, this is a mixed bag. The structure is impressively clever, the prose and setting are welcoming, and the first third is quite fun, but other story elements, like character and theme, don’t click for me.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A really multi-layered book with twists upon twists upon twists. The story never stops being compelling, and the spiral it goes down is complex, but not messy. All this to say: really fucking wild book. I loved it.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Self harm, Sexual content, Pregnancy