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readingwmiles's review against another edition
5.0
Biiiig trigger warning for this one. Almost every page of this is brutal. However, the violence in this story never came across as heavy handed or unnecessary. I feel like it’s because a woman wrote it? It was all realistic and showed a unique perspective. It puts the reader right in Suzy’s mind, creating sympathy for a character that could easily be demonized. It brings a lot of moral questions to mind. While I wish it was longer, I think every word of this novella packed a punch. There were so many memorable passages. The commentary on cycles of abuse was powerful, with no clear negative or positive conclusion drawn. I couldn’t put this book down and I’m so glad I gave it a chance. Highly disturbing and thought provoking.
chloereadsbooksyt's review against another edition
3.0
Really dark, and gritty, and horrible. 3 stars.
meowllyn's review against another edition
1.0
someone tried really hard to be edgy and I cringed with every page I read. don't waste your time.
lunababybat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm not sure how to feel about this one. It was good, fine. But it felt like something was missing. To me, at least, it wasn't really splatterpunk. It was disturbing at first, but once the two siblings set off, it really didn't do much aside from a lot of introspection. Which is fine, but not what I was looking for in an extreme horror book. I can tell the author was trying to convey a message, but I'm not sure what it was by the end. Writing itself was fine, more character driven than anything, but it just was missing something.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Sexual content, Vomit, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death
angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
1.0
Literary horror? All I can say is this shouldn’t be a genre. Not entertaining. Not thought provoking. Not particularly well-written. Sometimes when you go for the trifecta you miss on every count. An attempt at being genre expanding ends in horrific death by bored disgust.
maddykris's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
2.75
ryantlabee's review against another edition
4.0
True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik was SO close to being a perfect read for me. The writing is wonderful and the characters are engaging, however, the first half of the book is far more successful than the second half. Still, I love Kolesnik’s prose and I’m a big fan. Will be reading more.
sourgreen's review against another edition
4.0
this was bleak, brutal, and uncomfortable, but the portrayal of the potential effects of trauma was incredible. the author perfectly captured the pain, disgust, shame, emptiness, and debilitating rage that can result from trauma. she also managed to get me to feel for the narrator (which is quite a feat seeing as she’s, yknow, a murderer) because of the insight we get into her traumatic upbringing and the lasting effects it has on her