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artemisx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Pedophilia, and Excrement
mercurysflame'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
4.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Gore, and Sexism
Moderate: Vomit, Trafficking, and Pedophilia
hippievamp'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, Murder, Addiction, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Misogyny, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Antisemitism, and Addiction
kirnet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed the prose in this, and I ended up really loving Alex's character. I found her really compelling and was happy to follow her thoughts and actions. I love how flawed she is, as well as how she struggles to cope with it. Her relationships with the other characters are also great, mainly Dawes and North. She has a lot of on page chemistry with everyone that keeps things flowing. The story is interesting (though I did predict every twist), and the world building was interesting, but my main gripe with this book was the pacing. A lot of people mention not being invested in the book until very far in, and while I didn't have that exact problem, I did find a lot of the info dumps pretty grating. The book also spends a lot of time jumping back to the past, mostly to set up Darlington's character, or to explain parts of Alex's tragic backstory. In my opinion they happened too often and were too indulgent, really taking me out of the current storyline and investigation. I wonder if it would have been better to have made this book the second in the series, to have the first one actually show Alex and Darlington's growing relationship and ending with the cliffhanger of
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, and Addiction
kileyjojo'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
This was a fun read. It was a little difficult to get into in the beginning but the middle to end was super suspenseful and interesting. The ending felt like it fumbled the ball just a bit but overall I enjoyed the book. It takes a while to get into it but the payoff is worth it. If you like realistic fantasy and the paranormal, this is the read.
In terms of the content warning, a lot of the SA scenes feel very rushed and used only for shock value. In the moment, they are relevant but they seem to just disappear and never have any other message behind them when all is said and done. They are all very shocking and it makes it very difficult to want to continue the read.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Grief, Sexual assault, Drug use, Gore, Murder, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Pedophilia, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Excrement, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
cnjg88's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Graphic: Excrement, Murder, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Vomit, Drug use, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Torture, and Toxic relationship
adrienreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Drug use, Self harm, Gore, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Rape, Addiction, Death, Child abuse, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, and Toxic relationship
lotusmoon'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
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Violence, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, and Domestic abuse
itsheyfay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape
Minor: Vomit and Racism
alyxbeau's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I will put the reamainder of my review in spoiler tags to avoid people glancing at trigger warnings, but it will also contain actual spoilers.
At first I didn't think sny of it was for the shock factor. It seemed like the experiences our main character went through were described to us to explain her total fear at being touched by a ghost again after being raped as a middle schooler by one. But then her reaction to humans doing the same to her or trying to do the same to her, we're not as intense. They should have been. This is why I think it is all there for the shock factor now, and not included to show why her reaction was intense. Her reaction was intense only once. The trauma forgotten after that first incident at Yale.
This book is not for me. I stayed to solve the mystery of Darlington and got no satisfactory answer. I will not be continuing the series except to read a synopses of books 2 and 3, MAYBE.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Excrement, Addiction, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Classism, Drug use, Murder, Blood, Sexual harassment, Rape, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Medical content