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spooderman's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Blood, and Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Outing, and Stalking
Minor: Bullying, Dementia, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Classism, Infidelity, Vomit, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Medical content, and Medical trauma
blackcatkai's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
1.5
started off strong, but lost all of it in the last third of the story. a lot of current issues buzzwords just tossed in with very little actual care taken on any of the topics, but mostly they just felt crammed in with very little reason or impact. is it demonizing science believers? demonizing spiritual/religious people? definitely constant fatphobic/body shaming sprinkled throughout.
it feels like the most care was taken in regards to drug use/addiction, but it still all felt off, somehow. the ending also feels very.....weird. you ever hear conspiracies that people are forcing children to think they're trans even though it's not true? well, if you actually agree with those conspiracies, then this book is for you! and also you're a horrible person, maybe get off the internet a bit & stop that.
yea, no. not a fan & I will not be reading from the author in the future. thank you.
it feels like the most care was taken in regards to drug use/addiction, but it still all felt off, somehow. the ending also feels very.....weird. you ever hear conspiracies that people are forcing children to think they're trans even though it's not true? well, if you actually agree with those conspiracies, then this book is for you! and also you're a horrible person, maybe get off the internet a bit & stop that.
yea, no. not a fan & I will not be reading from the author in the future. thank you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Death, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Blood, Violence, Drug use, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Addiction, and Body shaming
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Transphobia
dalmavatai's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Ahhh it's so hard to rate this book & to explain my feelings about it. This book starts off pretty basic with some oft-repeated plot points of the thriller/mystery genre - the trope of the addict nanny who's not believed, the father in the family attracted to the nanny, the handsome local guy piquing the nanny's interest. I really enjoy the nanny-in-the-rich-family and the creepy-kid/creepy-drawings trope so I did like the setup, though it became quite formulaic as the story went on. I did overall enjoy the conclusion to the story because it was definitely something I didn't see coming and it was really interesting, especially how our MC figured out the truth, I really enjoyed the process of getting there.
However... while this book attempts some very basic commentary on racism and sexism, it simultaneously ends up being ableist, fatphobic and transphobic at times, none of which is challenged. The transphobia is especially concerning as it ends up being a larger portion of the book than the other things that are mostly just throwaway comments and remarks. At one point, the transphobia of the MC is challenged, but then the book uses a trope that is very cisheteronormative - and if you don't understand why, it is because our MC assumes Teddy to be a girl as soon as she sees that s/he has a vulva; however, obviously not all people with a vulva are women, such as trans women, and womanhood itself is not rooted in the possession of a vulva. This is the MC's rather transphobic assumption which is then challenged by Ted, but then it turns out that Teddy is *actually* a girl named Flora who was kidnapped by Ted and Caroline and made to live as a boy so that Flora wouldn't be found. I just... don't know how to feel about this plot point. Especially that at the end, Flora goes back to being a girl (after being allowed to explore all options with regards to their gender identity - or so we're led to believe, because really our society is deeply cisheteronormative which means that, according to psychological studies, even when parents believe they are raising their children in a 'gender-neutral' way, they are subconsciously encouraging gender-normative behaviors that falsely link genitalia, appearance, and behavior in a correlative manner - so, if you have a penis then you're a boy and you will dress like a boy and like things that boys like). So Flora "goes back to being a girl" at which point our MC says "I think she's always known that she was a girl", which is not challenged either, so we're left with very cisheteronormative understandings of gender which believe in an intrinsic correlation between genitalia, appearance/clothing and behavior. Sooo it's quite complex but I wanted to justify why I felt the way that I did with where this book went.
The other thing is that a specific nationality becomes an important plot point towards the end of the book, and as a person with that nationality, I feel compelled to tell you that many words, facts, and dishes were incorrect in the book and I wish that the author had done his homework regarding my nationality because I was really happy to see it in a book that I randomly picked up, but understandably less happy to discover that so many of the details were simply incorrect.
Sooo while I enjoyed most of this book and found the reveals satisfying and shocking, I have many issues with it otherwise. 🤐
However... while this book attempts some very basic commentary on racism and sexism, it simultaneously ends up being ableist, fatphobic and transphobic at times, none of which is challenged. The transphobia is especially concerning as it ends up being a larger portion of the book than the other things that are mostly just throwaway comments and remarks. At one point, the transphobia of the MC is challenged, but then the book uses a trope that is very cisheteronormative - and if you don't understand why,
The other thing is that a specific nationality becomes an important plot point towards the end of the book, and as a person with that nationality, I feel compelled to tell you that many words, facts, and dishes were incorrect in the book and I wish that the author had done his homework regarding my nationality because I was really happy to see it in a book that I randomly picked up, but understandably less happy to discover that so many of the details were simply incorrect.
Sooo while I enjoyed most of this book and found the reveals satisfying and shocking, I have many issues with it otherwise. 🤐
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Addiction, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Fatphobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Ableism, and Racism
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