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c0rpsekat's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Grief, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, Death, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Bullying, Sexism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Drug use, and Drug abuse
aparker89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Torture, Child death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Dementia, and Pregnancy
oliviavm8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Body horror, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
honeymoonleo's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Murder, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Death, and Animal death
ataraxicbear's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Overall, I gave this book a 4/5 stars. Here's why:
I personally love dark and twisty books, so this was right up my alley! I loved the unique story line, the mysterious aspect, trying to figure out what the heck was going on, and the generational dilemma. My biggest issue with the book was the pacing in terms of alternating timelines. Sometimes we would go several chapters of one timeline before switching, and I wish they switched a little more often, leaving me with cliffhangers as I'm going through the book. The other issue I had is that in really high stakes fast paced scenes, I feel like the author missed some things and was unable to fully flesh out her thoughts. It felt skippy and that certain things would come out of nowhere. It just wasn't explained the best.
Content warning: this book is DARK. If you are bothered by any of the following, this may not be the book for you... body mutilation, sexual assault, paranoid schizophrenia, anxiety attacks, gaslighting, animal abuse, gore, violence, murder, child death, pedophilia
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Rape, Violence, Gore, and Mental illness
wherethewildreadsare's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Let me start by saying I was intrigued and engaged the entire time. I read huge chunks at a time and begrudgingly put it down each time when I had to do something else. When I read the synopsis of the book, I expected it to be some sort of "serial killer survival's club" psychological thriller. It was not, I was wrong. And that's on me. After going through and seeing that it's marketed as horror, a genre I do not read a ton of, that makes a lot more sense. This book is not for the faint of heart. When I say it's dark and twisted, it's DARK and TWISTED.
The story is centered around a mother/daughter duo, each getting their own POV chapters. The mother, Caroline, mostly being in 2004 New Orleans and her daughter, Lila, "present-day" 2019. Without giving too much away, this book definitely has elements of an anti-patriarchal system. The entire premise is women being punished for going against the status quo, going against the submissive inferior sex they're expected to be. About keeping them in line. There is a lot of gaslighting and patronizing from the men within this book. And a LOAD of triggers in this book. So please read up on those before diving into it.
Nevertheless, this book deserves its props. I could not put it down and can easily seeing myself reading more by this author.
PS while there's absolutely no comparison between the descriptions within the book, I kept imagining the Beasts from the 2004 movie, "The Village". Every time, that's all I saw.
Graphic: Sexual violence and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Murder, and Death of parent
kaylaramoutar's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence