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megelizabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Vomit and Suicidal thoughts
andtheywereroommates's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Stalking, Animal death, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Kidnapping
valreadsallnight's review
- 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
3.25
First of all, Mick and Veronica. They fell for each other hard and quick. Veronica saw Mick as the perfect muse, while Mick was happy to have someone love her despite all her faults. Despite all of the hardships in their relationship they are willing to risk their life for each other. It's an all-consuming relationship that burns bright, but fast. Veronica doesn't treat Mick with much respect for much of the book, she sees Mick as the perfect muse because at her very core she is an artist, and needs others to acknowledge her artistry at the expense of her muse's wishes. Honestly, I was pretty sure the relationship was doomed when Veronica posted Mick's photo to her Instagram and added tags to it later, which I'm sure happened within a week into their relationship. It does peeve me that the main problems in their relationship were fixed because Mick thought it was petty in retrospect. I was really enjoying how their relationship was written until that point, it's not even because they're still together because of the traumatic experience they went through together, it's more because of the narrative, even if it was from their point of view, using said traumatic experience to disregard the actual problems in their relationship. It was really hard to take any of the progress Veronica and Mick make, the former apologizing to her and being willing to make things right and the latter working through her fear and finally having the chance to find happiness, seriously when it disregarded all the feelings Mick had earlier in the book just so that the main couple weren't "actually" in a bad relationship. Mick did make many questionable and hurtful decisions, but her reactions and feelings towards Veronica taking her photo and using it to boost her own career despite knowing about Mick's fears were incredibly valid. As you can tell, I'm incredibly salty of how their relationship was handled in the final part of the book.
Veronica and Nico are mirror images of each other, both are artists that see Mick as the perfect muse and take such great pride in their work that they are willing to do anything to have people see their genius, though one does have her limits, while the latter doesn't really care. They do greatly differ in what they want in life, to Nico's dismay. Veronica would be perfectly happy to have the picture perfect life as long as her photography is appreciated, while Nico would like to be more subversive and infamous, as long as he gets on the headlines he'll be satisfied. To be honest, these are both pretty typical artist fantasies, just different aesthetics. As mentioned before both are willing to do anything for acknowledgement, the main difference being that Veronica has much harder limits on what she is willing to do. All Nico cares for is his art. He has no qualms about doing what needs to be done in order for his installations to succeed. Veronica does care for other things, other people, but when she crosses lines, boundaries, hurts someone deeply, they should understand because this could make or break her career. She does care, she does feel guilty, but her art is everything to her. I'm pretty sure Veronica realised how similar she was too Nico at the very core... And that scared her.
There isn't as much to say for Mick and Nico, but they do share a background of an unstable home life that forces them into independence much faster than should be for people as young as them. Presumably, this commonality allows them to relate to each other much easier even with vastly different personalities. You really can see the differences their upbringing brings out when you compare them to Veronica. Photography is everything to her, and she allows herself to wish for other things in life, the typical dream life, because no matter what, she is guaranteed a comfortable life. Nico and Mick don't get to have these same luxury of hopeful wishing, because they first need to think about their own survival. They did get lucky with knowing Veronica and her mother since they were willing to help them, but without them life would be so much harder. The only constant in their life is themselves. Nico has a strong sense of self, and I'm sure he has such a strong attachment to art itself because it gave his life meaning and purpose. Mick on the other hand, is a lot more unsure of herself, but she too is trying to find something to give meaning to her life, something stable so she finally has a constant. Veronica can dream, Nico and Mick need a purpose.
This is definitely more on the nitpicky side, but I keep on wondering how
I do note that the final part of the book,
The final part did seem to hint at a possible sequel, which I would definitely be interested in reading if the author decides to pursue it!
Graphic: Blood, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Child abuse
Minor: Mass/school shootings and Suicidal thoughts
slighte's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Confinement, Kidnapping, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, and Animal death
aytac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Child death, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Confinement, Violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Death, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
ari_bryce'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? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts
booksbeyondthebinary'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Animal death
cjreadstoomuch's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, and Gun violence
esme_t's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Minor: Mass/school shootings and Suicidal thoughts
books_of_calypso's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Death, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts