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win_bin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Cancer, Child death, Grief, Terminal illness, Addiction, Blood, Car accident, Gore, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence
theemptynotebooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Blood, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Gore, Misogyny, and Suicide
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Addiction
Minor: Cancer and Vomit
chasingpages1's review
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Torture, Mental illness, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Blood, Car accident, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Gaslighting, Addiction, Drug abuse, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Kidnapping
Minor: Confinement, Police brutality, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, and Cursing
lycheejelly'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
3.5
Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Sexism, Gore, Vomit, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Car accident, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault
Minor: Self harm, Cursing, Police brutality, Ableism, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Confinement
asphodelashes's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder and Gore
Moderate: Sexism and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicide
leeghlee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Confinement, Violence, and Cancer
Moderate: Death of parent, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual content, Stalking, and Suicide
Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, and Mass/school shootings
glutenfreemaggie's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Medical content, Terminal illness, Ableism, Alcohol, Confinement, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Cancer, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Gore, and Torture
sar_letsread's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Blood, Murder, Misogyny, Gun violence, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Violence, Torture, Gore, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content
ronnieb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have really conflicting feelings about this which leads to my 3-star rating. The story follows our main character Lynnette who was part of a massacre in the 80s and now belongs to a group of other women who survived this same thing. The way this is described and they are all characterized is my first issue with the book. If you are a horror movie, specifically Slasher films, the references in this book are galore. It is pretty obvious which real-world franchise each character is supposed to emulate and it does become a bit unbelievable at points. Obviously, this kind of book requires some amount of suspension of disbelief but for me as a reader to believe that these multiple women went through multiple attacks/massacres like a Scream or Halloween just was a lot. I am a slasher film fan and it is much easier for me to do that for those films than it was for me to do that for this novel. The number of times they would mention the movies, books, and the term “Final Girl” as they relate to this group would just pull me out of the story at times.
I also found our main character to be unlikable which is fine but she was also so annoying and kind of dumb. I see why she is characterized this way as it makes sense to her arc and it is satisfying but being in her head was difficult during some pages of this book. The other characters were mostly fine but there were a lot of characters and keeping them straight and their individual stories straight was difficult at points (especially when it comes to all the women in the group and the attack they went through). I think if the book included a pseudo-cast list in the beginning almost as a table of contents that would have helped a lot. It also would have fit thematically with the book as it really reads as if the events taking place on the page were a movie playing out.
My final point of discussion is relating to the pacing/plot of the book. I will say the book surprised me with almost every twist and turn except our final one. However, they all had a very low impact as I realized that I was just not invested or cared that much. Looking back the twists make sense though and the overall pace is fine. I think it does sag toward the middle a bit but the beginning and ending is interesting in my opinion.
Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Cancer, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide
root'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
The majority of the "plot twists" are not plot twists so much as the product of an unreliable narrator jumping to conclusions about small things that, if you look at the actual evidence she is using, is utterly meaningless or at least is missing details. Because she is not just reacting to what's happening now--peppered in are comparisons of people who look like someone else, how she trusts them or wants to keep them safe because they remind her of people, how she distrusts others for the same reason.
I think that itself makes the book outstanding, to depict a variety of very real reactions to trauma in such an accurate way, including their flaws. It is a testimony to the fact that being hurt does not make you inherently better at surviving: it can also make you that much more vulnerable and unsafe. It is a very real look at the effects of trauma, and a good critique of how the true crime community and of the horror genre turn real events into mindless entertainment at the detriment and suffering of real, living people.
Criticisms of the book would be the following:
It is a very rudimentary, white feminist perspective of the world that goes exactly one layer deep in gender politics which is "man evil, violent inherently" and "girl (not woman) innocent, dainty, victim." Even the author's attempted subversion of it still ultimately played back into this rather elementary understanding of the sociopolitical effects of gender. It's very "girlhood is grief" in its angle.
The very few times race is brought up is...unfortunate. Listen, I just don't think that a white author can place a Single Black character in horror media without it being a bit weird. His choice was essentially to have the Black character die or have the Black character live but being chased down and tormented by a white man. Neither of which reflect very well. You either have to have multiple Black characters with different outcomes or it's just not good. Or I don't know, just as side characters that aren't involved. I would have taken that too. Anyway the way the author handled the race topic was...not great. It tried to be progressive about it but just failed spectacularly.
The last point is something I've seen others bring up. Although the author was presenting a criticism of how the true crime community and horror in general utilize real events and make references to external stories, he was also simultaneously doing the same thing. I understood what the author was trying to do with this. He was trying to show that the book itself is Also That, that the reader should be cognizant that THEY are being criticized and that their consumption of the book itself is participatory in this exact thing. But it wasn't done well so the message was lost on a lot of people and so it just felt flat. I appreciated the sentiment, though.
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Stalking, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, and Gore
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Racism and Suicide