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thebigq'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
Moderate: Infertility
Minor: Suicide attempt, Medical content, and Terminal illness
3readingcircus's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Infidelity
Moderate: Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, and Cancer
Minor: Death of parent, Miscarriage, Rape, and Infertility
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
So much of this book hinges on you being patient with mediocre writing, hollow characters, twists that make absolutely no sense with very little evidence throughout the book to support it, and for you to keep track of a bunch of side characters that add little to the story as a whole. Not to mention, by the time I was less than halfway through, I was already so tired of reading about these privileged WASPs - literally characters with lineage dating back to the Mayflower. I just stopped caring, but I *did* want to know if my theories were correct, because I am a freak who is obsessed with being right.
I can't say this is a complete dud - the book did have its moments that were genuinely creepy, and where I thought that Avery, the therapist, was sort of interesting. I enjoyed her chapters because at least they didn't feel as hollow as the chapters that followed Marissa, her client and one half of "the golden couple" in question. I also enjoyed her dog, he was adorable. I also thought that one of the scenes toward the end was very chilling, but it quickly became cringey and far-fetched, so it didn't really amount to much. Though I did enjoy Avery at times, it became increasingly hard to believe that she is as smart as these authors want to pretend she is.
All of this said, for once, I didn't call the ending of a thriller, which I enjoy, usually...except...I only didn't guess this ending because it made no sense in any realm.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Murder, Alcohol, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Child death, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Medical content
Minor: Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Animal cruelty