Scan barcode
cheye13'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The parallel storylines (in hell and in life) were fascinating but I did ultimately expect something more impressive from their culmination. The primers about how hell works, especially with time, set up a great method for more creatively weaving the two tales together but was entirely underutilized. An interesting story at the time, likely wholly forgettable.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Self harm, Child death, and Infidelity
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Bullying, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Eating disorder, and Suicide
The book includes a fringe religious cult involving young boys fighting each other to the death. The experience of a girl in foster care is quickly summed up, implying sexual abuse and a mass murder. There is a later attempted premeditated/conspiracy to murder.ggreen1379's review
3.5
Graphic: Death and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Suicide, Self harm, Infidelity, Cancer, Blood, Abandonment, Gun violence, Grief, and Child death
Minor: Terminal illness and Pedophilia
maggieparedesauthor's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Blood, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Addiction, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, and Drug use
lou153clem's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, and Child abuse
Minor: Pedophilia, Murder, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Child abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment
jaylee_books's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Grief, Death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Torture, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Violence, Body horror, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, and Blood
abookandaspotoftea's review
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Self harm, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Murder, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Body shaming, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Bullying
Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, and Gun violence
cyntea_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Child death, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, and Gun violence
lovelymisanthrope's review
- 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
4.5
"Sign Here" follows a few different points of view, but there are two main stories going on. The first storyline is Peyote's. Peyote is a man stuck working on the fifth level of hell. He has worked his way up from the first level and is entirely motivated to work his way out of hell and return to his old life. The fifth level of hell deals with contracts, and the employees are tasked with finding individuals on earth who want to sell their souls (I mean who REALLY reads all of the terms and conditions). Peyote has been working for years to get the entire Harrison family to sign their life away, and he only needs one more signature to have a complete set. Enter the Harrisons: the second main storyline. The Harrisons seem like the perfect family, but they are all hiding secrets that could tear the family apart. Every year they go to the family cabin for the majority of the summer break. This year, the teenage daughter, Mickey, is allowed to invite her new friend Ruth to come along. Everything seems to be going as good as can be expected, until Ruth becomes the center of attention for all the wrong reasons.
I was kind of expecting for this story to feel more chaotic than it did because there are so many different points of view we are following, and the timeline jumps around a lot. We get the present timeline as well as the timeline from when the parents were teenagers. There was a tragic murder of a beloved girl when they were teenagers and the father's brother was tried and convicted of said murder.
While Peyote is working in hell, he is tasked with helping the new recruit to the fifth level: Calamity. Cal's character is entirely erratic and extremely deceptive, which for a person who works in hell is good, but as a character to read about it was too much for me. She is wild and a great counterpart to Peyote's dull office demeanor, but she is also off the rails.
I think this story could have been stronger if we only got Peyote's perspective. His story was what I was most invested in because the Harrisons are just a bunch of bad people who want to think they are right. I do appreciate getting to see Peyote's "set" signing their life away and seeing what drove them to that point, but I think with the technology in hell and how Peyote monitors people, we still could have gotten that story with their points of view.
Overall, I was impressed with this story, and I cannot wait to see more from Claudia Lux in the future.
Graphic: Gun violence, Stalking, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Pedophilia and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content and Cancer
blackcatkai's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
i had a lot of fun with this one. it's funny, at times uncomfortable, and wholly entertaining. it had a couple small twists towards the end that i both wasn't expecting but thoroughly enjoyed.
Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Child death, Violence, Death, Self harm, Blood, Gun violence, and Child abuse
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicide, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Gaslighting, and Drug use
Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Ableism, and Cancer
aryexo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Self harm, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, and Blood