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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
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
I loved reading Alender’s “Good Girls Don’t Die” series, so I was excited for a new book from her. I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting, but this was different from whatever it was. It was a good and enjoyable read, but not necessarily a deep story.
Girl’s entire family dies in a car crash, she gets sent to an orphanage, random strangers take her in. Things seem okay at first, but questions start to arise about the family, particularly the mother. Turns out that the mother has been drugging her daughter to make her behave, did this to her sister and killed her, and then drugs the protagonist once she starts “misbehaving.” It feels a little cliché to me, to be honest.
Most of the book takes place within a few months I believe, and the passage of time in the book was a little hard to follow in my opinion. However, a case could be made that living alone in a mansion with hardly anyone to talk to, your perception of time would be skewed. A lot of things would happen and it seemed to me like many days were passing, but hardly any time had actually passed at all. For example, when Margot was pursuing her relationship with Barrett and they had all the fun adventures together, it seemed to me like a lot of time had passed, but only a week or so actually had? When they first met, school was about a month away. When Barrett was leaving, school was still about a month away. Maybe I just missed some of the time cues or something, but that was what I thought.
Personally, I don’t like romance in books very much, so maybe that’s why I didn’t like Barrett and Margot’s pairing, but it felt really rushed to me. He started out hating her, then very quickly decided that he was fine with her and actually liked her. It was a very quick turn around in my opinion and didn’t make sense. The whole romance didn’t make sense, either. Barrett came in halfway through the book, had fun with Margot, then left, never to actually be seen in the book again (though he is mentioned at the end). The entire point of his character seemed to just be romance, but the romance was rushed and out of place.
The ending was alright, albeit a little bit of a deus ex machine in my opinion. They get saved because Margot, with barely any service, just happened to call Kiley (a friend of Agatha’s) who decided to call the cops? Talk about swooping in out of nowhere to save the day.
With that being said, I didn’t dislike this book. It has its issues, but like I said at the beginning, it was an enjoyable read. I’ve been in a reading slump lately, but I read this in a week, so I definitely found it entertaining. Looking forward to anything Alender has planned next!
Girl’s entire family dies in a car crash, she gets sent to an orphanage, random strangers take her in. Things seem okay at first, but questions start to arise about the family, particularly the mother. Turns out that the mother has been drugging her daughter to make her behave, did this to her sister and killed her, and then drugs the protagonist once she starts “misbehaving.” It feels a little cliché to me, to be honest.
Most of the book takes place within a few months I believe, and the passage of time in the book was a little hard to follow in my opinion. However, a case could be made that living alone in a mansion with hardly anyone to talk to, your perception of time would be skewed. A lot of things would happen and it seemed to me like many days were passing, but hardly any time had actually passed at all. For example, when Margot was pursuing her relationship with Barrett and they had all the fun adventures together, it seemed to me like a lot of time had passed, but only a week or so actually had? When they first met, school was about a month away. When Barrett was leaving, school was still about a month away. Maybe I just missed some of the time cues or something, but that was what I thought.
Personally, I don’t like romance in books very much, so maybe that’s why I didn’t like Barrett and Margot’s pairing, but it felt really rushed to me. He started out hating her, then very quickly decided that he was fine with her and actually liked her. It was a very quick turn around in my opinion and didn’t make sense. The whole romance didn’t make sense, either. Barrett came in halfway through the book, had fun with Margot, then left, never to actually be seen in the book again (though he is mentioned at the end). The entire point of his character seemed to just be romance, but the romance was rushed and out of place.
The ending was alright, albeit a little bit of a deus ex machine in my opinion. They get saved because Margot, with barely any service, just happened to call Kiley (a friend of Agatha’s) who decided to call the cops? Talk about swooping in out of nowhere to save the day.
With that being said, I didn’t dislike this book. It has its issues, but like I said at the beginning, it was an enjoyable read. I’ve been in a reading slump lately, but I read this in a week, so I definitely found it entertaining. Looking forward to anything Alender has planned next!
Super underrated! Scary, thrilling, and romantic. It’s a good fun read and while it’s pretty intense at parts, I’d definitely say this is more middle grade then YA. A great spooky read for October for those Halloween vibes and to give you the chills.
One thing I will say is while it was a good read, at some parts I felt lost and bored. A decent chunk was fillers, but they did end up working together and really tied it together. That being said, I feel like there wasn’t really an ending, because from a mile away I knew the ending ought to had happen. It’s still a good read though!
One thing I will say is while it was a good read, at some parts I felt lost and bored. A decent chunk was fillers, but they did end up working together and really tied it together. That being said, I feel like there wasn’t really an ending, because from a mile away I knew the ending ought to had happen. It’s still a good read though!
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Oh this is good. It's creepy and, I would argue, one of Alender's best books to date (and this is coming from a Marie Antoinette: Serial Killer stan). I just don't understand what the dreams were, if they were real(ish) and also what the deal was with the lilies??? And also why is the mom no longer speaking--she got one dose of the complacency drugs, it should be out of her system . But overall, spooky, stressful, and serving gothic in the modern day.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow! Fan's of V.C. Andrews, you are going to love this book. Can't say much without giving away the plot. Just that it was creepy and surreal.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This one was such a mixed bag for me. There were things I liked, things I wasn't crazy about and things I wanted more of from this book.
I buddy read this book last month with two of my coworkers. Not knowing anything about the book or reading the synopsis, I chose it based on cover and I saw a review calling it "super creepy and unsettling". I was most definitely intrigued by both of those things, but for any of you who really know me, I like creepy and unsettling, but it also takes a lot to make me feel that way.
The Companion definitely had its moments where I could see some being a little spooked and have their hair on the back of their neck standing up, but for me it fell a little flat.
What I liked:
-the overall storyline (young girl's family dies tragically, family friend takes her in, she becomes their sickly daughters "companion" and creepy things start happening)
-the writing was nice and had an easy flow
What didn't work for me
-the main character (there were so many times I just wanted to shake her)
-it was rather predictable
-there were some loose ends and questions I had that were never answered
-it could have been shorter, at almost 500 pages, I felt like the middle dragged a bit.
But overall it made for a book with interesting discussions as we sipped many flavors of sangria around a fire.
Read this if you like: YA thrillers, Holly Black, a YA version of Verity, unsettling feelings, weird medical diagnoses
I buddy read this book last month with two of my coworkers. Not knowing anything about the book or reading the synopsis, I chose it based on cover and I saw a review calling it "super creepy and unsettling". I was most definitely intrigued by both of those things, but for any of you who really know me, I like creepy and unsettling, but it also takes a lot to make me feel that way.
The Companion definitely had its moments where I could see some being a little spooked and have their hair on the back of their neck standing up, but for me it fell a little flat.
What I liked:
-the overall storyline (young girl's family dies tragically, family friend takes her in, she becomes their sickly daughters "companion" and creepy things start happening)
-the writing was nice and had an easy flow
What didn't work for me
-the main character (there were so many times I just wanted to shake her)
-it was rather predictable
-there were some loose ends and questions I had that were never answered
-it could have been shorter, at almost 500 pages, I felt like the middle dragged a bit.
But overall it made for a book with interesting discussions as we sipped many flavors of sangria around a fire.
Read this if you like: YA thrillers, Holly Black, a YA version of Verity, unsettling feelings, weird medical diagnoses
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No