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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it's been a Long time since I read a book in one sitting but this was so insanely horrifying that i couldn't stop. devastating and sickening i haven't read very many books that made me nauseous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ya'll...
This wasn’t just a book about a
The ending? I am not okay. I had to sit there and just… stare at nothing for a minute. I walked outside into the rain on my lunch break. Because the whole time, you’re hoping for a different outcome, but deep down you know. And when it hits, it’s like the air leaves the room. And the twist? The trauma? I'm SICK!
Tiffany... TIFFANNYYY!!!! You really dragged me through it — the frustration, the heartbreak, the anger. And the worst part? This story is one pulled from real life.
I’m not going to stop thinking about this one any time soon. Somebody tell Tiffany to meet me outside. I just want to talk, and sob, for a lil bit. That's all. I swear.
dark
sad
The timeline presented in this book is so confusing. Before the Before? Absolutely not. It made the whole reading experience annoying and not enjoyable at all. Couldn't wait to be finished with this one.
Fast read. Infuriates me how incompetent the system can be... I feel like if I was the parent in this story, I would have been freaking out like Claudia was! What if there hadn't been a Ms. V? Or the nurse? This exposes the flaws in child services and the disgustingness that live in some humans. How many lives could be saved if we, as humanity, cared more for each other?
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
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
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There’s no way for me to vent about this without major spoilers, so I’m sorry about that.
I’ll start by saying I hated the way the story was packaged. 4 timelines?! The Before, Before the Before, The After, and whenever the hell the months were taking place… I often lost sight of *when8 we were in Claudia’s story. I saw someone else suggest this was the point—to make us feel as disoriented as Claudia—but it made for a convoluted read.
Perhaps I wouldn’t have minded that so much if the characters weren’t so irritating. Every adult failed these kids at literally every possible turn. The individual people as well as the organizations. And this will be my privilege showing but I can’t imagine they would all fail this bad. You’re telling me a small child was dead for almost two years and then his sister was dead for several months, and everyone who showed up to investigate didn’t think it was strange that no one could find them?? The amount of effort to find the truth was literally the bare minimum. So simple, in fact, that a mentally checked-out teenager got closer to the truth than they did.
Along those same lines, the Coleman’s failed Claudia all over again in The After. These devoted parents thought it was better to have an entire community lie to their grieving child for two years instead of getting her the therapy and help she really needed??
The further I got, the angrier I was. And again, perhaps I ran face first into the point here.
Perhaps I wouldn’t have minded that so much if the characters weren’t so irritating. Every adult failed these kids at literally every possible turn. The individual people as well as the organizations. And this will be my privilege showing but I can’t imagine they would all fail this bad. You’re telling me a small child was dead for almost two years and then his sister was dead for several months, and everyone who showed up to investigate didn’t think it was strange that no one could find them?? The amount of effort to find the truth was literally the bare minimum. So simple, in fact, that a mentally checked-out teenager got closer to the truth than they did.
Along those same lines, the Coleman’s failed Claudia all over again in The After. These devoted parents thought it was better to have an entire community lie to their grieving child for two years instead of getting her the therapy and help she really needed??
The further I got, the angrier I was. And again, perhaps I ran face first into the point here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Gaslighting
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder