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corriejn's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Blood
justineboots's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Normally when people say a book has put a twist on the whodunnit, it turns out poorly - but this was quite well-executed.
Both mysteries were very engaging and the way that the two were intertwined by the author was very interesting. Neither of their resolutions were quite as satisfying as I would have hoped, however. In one case, it was a bit undercooked - a little gooey and runny, so to speak. In the other, I had guessed the culprit though not the motive.
Still I was eager to get to the end and while I felt a bit let down by the endings, it wasn’t quite enough to ruin the entire book for me.
There are potentially triggering topics in this book, however, I will say that I found them to be handled quite well and not used purely for shock value.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Murder, Classism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Bullying and Homophobia
breezer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Child death
navayiota's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Child death
Moderate: Dementia, Pedophilia, Abandonment, and Alcohol
lucigrimm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
You see many themes and characters that feel familiar and grin to yourself, all the whole wondering if you can figure it out what is happening before it is revealed.
This is truly a book that even if when you put it down will dance in the back of your head making you wonder if your murder mystery skills are up to snuff.
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Cancer
rieviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Dementia, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Pedophilia
annalisaely's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Well.
First of all, I wouldn't consider this to exactly canonically confirm, yes, this person is autistic. The doctor could have been entirely mistaken, and clearly couldn't be bothered to find out. But the character in question, Brent, was also coded as autistic ("coded" meaning "meant to appear as", the same concept as queer coding, where authors/directors/creatives make a character seem homosexual or genderqueer etc. without outright stating it, sometimes to get around rules about queer characters, sometimes to make a character seem more villainous or off putting). This was mainly accomplished by repeatedly, and by that I mean by every character perspective that included him, talking about how "off" he looked, how he was "sullen" (a common interpretation of flat affect combined with social anxiety, which many autistic people have), how his personal appearance was subpar, how not neat he was, how he was crumpled and had dirt beneath his fingernails (a gardener with dirt under his fingernails? Shocking!)
Both queer coding and autistic/neurodivergent coding are often used as signals to readers and other characters that a certain character is just not quite right, and therefore to cast suspicion. Sometimes it is used on the actual antagonist or murderer, and sometimes it's used as a red herring. Either way, it really sucks. It reliably reinforces that the coded traits are bad and that the people who have them are bad.
That's it for the non-spoiler section. Basically, if you are autistic, this book will probably hurt to read, and if you aren't but would like not to read things that reinforce negative stereotypes, you probably shouldn't read it either. For those who have already read the book, don't plan on reading it, or don't mind spoilers, I will now elaborate.
So Brent likes to read Boy's Life Magazine. My brother used to get this magazine and I can tell you there is nothing remotely sexual about it and it doesn't tend to feature boy scouts in even slight states of undress. Why do I have to say this? Because he also watches the boy scouts when they camp across the river from where he works. And from these two pieces of information, our illustrious editor decides he is a pedophile, and that's probably why he murdered Magnus Pye, to cover up the assault and murder of the child Tom that happened a number of years ago. In other words, she swallows the negative stereotyping of Brent hook line and sinker. Alternate explanation? Autistic people often have interests that are socially unacceptable for their age range, such as children liking chess and rocket science and adults liking glitter, or in this case, wanting to be a Boy Scout. Now you might say that this indicates that only the characters, not the author, are ableist (anti-disabled people - autism is a disability, therefore the best way to describe people who talk about or believe about autistic people in a negative way just for being autistic is "ableist"). And Anthony Horowitz may not believe horrible things about autistic people. But he couldn't be bothered to make sure he didn't portray them in a negative light or that the person who considered one a pedophile because of ablism was corrected. So people who know about autistic people and how their brains work, like me, might go away not believing Brent was a pedophile and generally a disgusting person (remember all those references to his appearance and attitude) but anyone who doesn't know how their brains work is very likely to go away having had their negative stereotypes about people who dress sloppily, make different types of facial expressions, and are interested in non-traditional things strengthened.
2017 is recent enough to know what sensitivity readers are and use them. A couple of changes could have made this book so much less damaging.
Graphic: Ableism and Terminal illness
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
frillyflutee's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Death and Child death
Moderate: Violence, Cancer, Animal death, and Suicide
Minor: Terminal illness and Suicidal thoughts
caitlin_bookchats's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
Graphic: Terminal illness, Suicide, and Child death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts