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emperorcupcake's review against another edition
1.0
oh noooo
This is the second book in my "read the two lowest-rated books on my TBR" challenge. I really liked the first one! But this was a hot mess. Possibly the lowest-rated book I've read, period, and I can see why. And I wanted to like this! I loooved the movie A Simple Favor (haven't read the book but sure gonna now out of sheer curiosity), and if you think I'm gonna pass up a book with a hot pink cover and a haunted house, just who do you think I am?? don't answer that.
Thing is, I was actually enjoying this til like, the last third? fourth? It was a very quick, easy read, I'll give it that, and I was intrigued even if it seemed pretty obvious where it was going. But then the aforementioned hot mess, delivered on a silver platter. The author had no idea how to end this. She had places to be, people to see, and none of them involved actually finishing this book.
Let me take you through my journey. My first clue that "oh this is bad, actually" was the repeat of the Christmas pageant scene we get in the prologue. It was not a scene worthy of a callback, there was no need for that prologue. Then we get some muahaha-y villain exposition chapters, which I hate. HATE. Then it slams into me how weak and awful a character Emma actually is. I never liked or connected with her but holy shit, she is a literal invertebrate. I'm not here for blaming the victim, but I'm kinda blaming the victim. GROW BONES LADY.
Then the "ending." I'm not gonna "spoil" it, so I'll just repeat that no shits were given, by anyone, by the end of this book. Someone had a plane to catch. Muffins in the oven. A little league game. Something way more important than the ending of a novel that lots of idiots like me will probably read because they liked an Anna Kendrick movie. ok seriously
That was a lot of words to say I did not much care for this. Consider this a warning. As it says on the back, buyer beware. Turns out they were talking about the book itself, not the haunted house. If only I'd listened! 1.5, extra half star because by God, it had me part of the way. It was just weird enough with an off-kilter, almost I'm Thinking of Ending Things-y energy. Though maybe that should make me hate it MORE because if it had started as bad as it finished, I would have just dnf'ed it.
EDIT: In retrospect I am giving this one star, because the ending means the villain chapters make NO SENSE. Like they literally should not exist. That makes the book objectively bad.
This is the second book in my "read the two lowest-rated books on my TBR" challenge. I really liked the first one! But this was a hot mess. Possibly the lowest-rated book I've read, period, and I can see why. And I wanted to like this! I loooved the movie A Simple Favor (haven't read the book but sure gonna now out of sheer curiosity), and if you think I'm gonna pass up a book with a hot pink cover and a haunted house, just who do you think I am?? don't answer that.
Thing is, I was actually enjoying this til like, the last third? fourth? It was a very quick, easy read, I'll give it that, and I was intrigued even if it seemed pretty obvious where it was going. But then the aforementioned hot mess, delivered on a silver platter. The author had no idea how to end this. She had places to be, people to see, and none of them involved actually finishing this book.
Let me take you through my journey. My first clue that "oh this is bad, actually" was the repeat of the Christmas pageant scene we get in the prologue. It was not a scene worthy of a callback, there was no need for that prologue. Then we get some muahaha-y villain exposition chapters, which I hate. HATE. Then it slams into me how weak and awful a character Emma actually is. I never liked or connected with her but holy shit, she is a literal invertebrate. I'm not here for blaming the victim, but I'm kinda blaming the victim. GROW BONES LADY.
Then the "ending." I'm not gonna "spoil" it, so I'll just repeat that no shits were given, by anyone, by the end of this book. Someone had a plane to catch. Muffins in the oven. A little league game. Something way more important than the ending of a novel that lots of idiots like me will probably read because they liked an Anna Kendrick movie. ok seriously
Spoiler
How is there is villain POV when there's no villain? HOW IS THERE A VILLAIN POV WHEN THERE'S NO VILLAIN, STEVE??That was a lot of words to say I did not much care for this. Consider this a warning. As it says on the back, buyer beware. Turns out they were talking about the book itself, not the haunted house. If only I'd listened! 1.5, extra half star because by God, it had me part of the way. It was just weird enough with an off-kilter, almost I'm Thinking of Ending Things-y energy. Though maybe that should make me hate it MORE because if it had started as bad as it finished, I would have just dnf'ed it.
EDIT: In retrospect I am giving this one star, because the ending means the villain chapters make NO SENSE. Like they literally should not exist. That makes the book objectively bad.
abbie_al2001's review against another edition
3.5
THE LAST 3 PAGES DON’T COUNT AND I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT ENDS THAT WAY
theresabraun's review against another edition
2.0
Wow that sucked. I wanted to give it a shot despite the low rating but I wish I listened. For some reason, I was really irritated about it being Lindsey planting everything and then even more irritated with the ending. I literally shut the book and yelled at it when it was finished lollll. Also I didn’t like any of the characters including Emma. Sally and JD were the only decent ones.
bc7ate9's review against another edition
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 this book totally freaked me out and I really enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of Rosemary’s Baby. The main character frustrated me a lot at times, but I feel like she was well developed. It gets really bananas at the end..
kaelie21's review against another edition
3.0
ARC REVIEW: Thank you so much to Atria Publishing and Darcy’s Bell for the ARC copy of All I Want.
Emma and Ben buy a creepy mansion upstate. While they think it is going to be a good idea, it turns out totally opposite for Emma. Emma is seeing things, reading things, and cannot tell reality from imagination, or so Ben says. With unexpected turns and twists you will never predict the ending.
When I say I really wanted to like this book you should believe me. I did think the start of it was really slow, and drug on. When I finally got to the part of the book that was juicy I was intrigued. Then, the last chapter hit and it ruined the whole book for me. If you read this can you please explain to me what happened? Like I am so confused… I cannot even comprehend my confusion.
I am giving this book a 2.5/5. I honestly was going to give this book a 3.5 until the very last chapter.
Emma and Ben buy a creepy mansion upstate. While they think it is going to be a good idea, it turns out totally opposite for Emma. Emma is seeing things, reading things, and cannot tell reality from imagination, or so Ben says. With unexpected turns and twists you will never predict the ending.
When I say I really wanted to like this book you should believe me. I did think the start of it was really slow, and drug on. When I finally got to the part of the book that was juicy I was intrigued. Then, the last chapter hit and it ruined the whole book for me. If you read this can you please explain to me what happened? Like I am so confused… I cannot even comprehend my confusion.
I am giving this book a 2.5/5. I honestly was going to give this book a 3.5 until the very last chapter.
pikasqueaks's review against another edition
i don't like to think of disappointing books as being "time i've wasted" but i am beside myself with the one. it is 2022, we need to stop letting books with plot twists enter the universe.
Spoiler
"it was all just a dream!"jlyroberts's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
alli_always_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
i_have_a_book_problem's review against another edition
1.0
Awful. I should have learned my lesson after a simple favor. Never reading this author again!!!! What the hell was up with the last chapter??!!
ellentjuhhh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
2.0