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tree_star's review
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Death of parent, Rape, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Confinement, Chronic illness, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Grief, Terminal illness, and Pedophilia
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I was pretty excited about this one. I saw the hype it was getting on Bookstagram. A lot of 5 stars so I was pretty anxious to get my hands on it. I think around chapter 3 I knew I wasn't going to like it. Then I got halfway and wanted to dnf it so bad but I was already was halfway and the book was short so I was like might as well finish it. But even as I was getting near the finish line, all I wanted was for it to end. I was originally going to give it three stars but decided to lower it a bit more because there was really nothing that I liked about this book. I don't hate it by any means but there's nothing good that comes to mind when I recount my reading experience of this book.
I know we were supposed to root for the main character "Rachel" (I honestly thought the use of her 2nd personal POV was a nice touch), but she was just too frantic and unhinged and too stupid like she has two+ opportunities to escape before and the first time she literally tries to kidnap Cecilia instead of just hightailing her butt out of there and the second time the door was literally wide open for her and she didn't open [which I get, the whole abuser have a hold on you thing], but still; and her weird obsession with his daughter made no sense to me, like you don't even know her! to root for her. I know we get a look into her past in a few chapters, but just like with the writing of this story it's all so surface-level and cryptic and ambiguous; it feels like most of the things in this book are left up to interpretation which is fine to a certain degree but that's literally what most of this book was, just full a surface level descriptions.
None and I mean NONE of the characters were flushed out at all. Emily his supposed next "victim" is weirdly obsessed with this man (Aidan; the killer) for some reason who is about 2x her age with a kid. And her storyline basically runs on the fact that she's weirdly obsessed and "in love" with this grown man. Also, him choosing Emily to be his next victim literally made no sense considering she's local to his town and people have seen them together multiple times. Also, her being his next victim is inferred and never directly told to us.
Cecilia, the daughter, I honestly don't even know why she's here. She didn't serve as much of a big plot point to me and she was very one-dimensional like everyone else in this book. And Aidan, you'd think he'd be the most interesting character in this book and he is but that's not saying much cuz he's a flat character too. We learn that he had a wife who died of cancer and that he was a former Marine who worked as a hospital corpsman and now he's a lineman. And the basic serial killer profile, that he's meticulous and clean and needs power. Again, one dimensional. Did he actually love his wife? We don't know. Did his wife know? We don't know. What possessed him to keep Rachel for as long as he did? We don't know. How does he choose his victims? We don't know. Why does he have these tendencies? We don't know. So many unanswered questions.
And the ending. Very anticlimactic. I think the author was going for a "women's intuition telepathy" with the three girls (Emily, "Rachel", and Cecelia) to symbolize some sisterhood between them, but it just didn't work. That scene where "Rachel" abducts Cecilia at gunpoint and forces her to run with her from her own dad and we as the reader are just supposed to believe that Cecilia would choose this stranger that has been nothing but weird to her and has tried to kidnap her before over her own father. Like, be for real?! And the part where Emily "distracts" Aidan for a second so "Rachel" can have time to escape him makes no sense. She's literally been obsessed with this man the whole book how could she have put two and two together like that? She's literally only interacted with "Rachel" TWICE before that. You expect me to believe she chose this woman whom she doesn't even know, who abducts her lover's kid over her lover because "a woman knows". Again, BE FOR REAL! So stupid! This book also (in my opinion) doesn't belong in the thriller genre because there was nothing thrilling about this book. I remember reading it and thinking how this sort of reads like a memoir or a literary fiction piece. There was no suspense; I was not on the edge of my seat; I just wanted it to be over!
I know we were supposed to root for the main character "Rachel" (I honestly thought the use of her 2nd personal POV was a nice touch), but she was just too frantic and unhinged and too stupid
None and I mean NONE of the characters were flushed out at all. Emily his supposed next "victim" is weirdly obsessed with this man (Aidan; the killer) for some reason who is about 2x her age with a kid. And her storyline basically runs on the fact that she's weirdly obsessed and "in love" with this grown man. Also, him choosing Emily to be his next victim literally made no sense considering she's local to his town and people have seen them together multiple times. Also, her being his next victim is inferred and never directly told to us.
Cecilia, the daughter, I honestly don't even know why she's here. She didn't serve as much of a big plot point to me and she was very one-dimensional like everyone else in this book. And Aidan, you'd think he'd be the most interesting character in this book and he is but that's not saying much cuz he's a flat character too. We learn that he had a wife who died of cancer and that he was a former Marine who worked as a hospital corpsman and now he's a lineman. And the basic serial killer profile, that he's meticulous and clean and needs power. Again, one dimensional. Did he actually love his wife? We don't know. Did his wife know? We don't know. What possessed him to keep Rachel for as long as he did? We don't know. How does he choose his victims? We don't know. Why does he have these tendencies? We don't know. So many unanswered questions.
And the ending. Very anticlimactic. I think the author was going for a "women's intuition telepathy" with the three girls (Emily, "Rachel", and Cecelia) to symbolize some sisterhood between them, but it just didn't work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual content, and Stalking
simbareadss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
Second person pov 🤮
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Rape, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Torture
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