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junefish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, and Abortion
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
the pedophilia is with underage teenagers (not small children)graceheiberger's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, and Murder
ilbther's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Abortion, and Murder
death of a siblingitsmeyseniab's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
it was a whole lot of yikes from me.
The plot itself was fine, and I appreciate how Kara Thomas was not afraid to showcase some of the more intense issues that some teens/young adults face, but MAN did it feel yucky at times. I hate when authors add triggering things for "shock-value" or as plot devices and I felt as though Kara did that a LOT. For example important topics were included such as abortion, suicide, bullying, and domestic violence, but I just felt like they weren't handled well. They were just sort of "thrown in" at times and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Another issue I had was some of her word choices - for example, the phrase "real dad" was used on more than on occasion to distinguish between the main character Monica's biological father and stepfather who raised her practically her entire life) and it really irritated me. Just say biological? (I know this is such a minor complaint, but it's a pet peeve what can I say).
Monica was extremely unlikeable, and honestly all of the characters were pretty unmemorable. It was even hard for me to distinguish between the five cheerleaders throughout the novel and their deaths were the main conflict! I don't have much else to say simply because they gave me NOTHING to work with. I said what I said.
Overall this just fell really flat for me, and took me WAY longer to get through than it should've. There are plenty of other YA mystery/thrillers that I would recommend before I recommended this one. I applaud Kara Thomas for including hard-hitting topics in this (and I know that she does this in every book she has published) but I'm just not sure I feel the desire to pick up another.
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, and Abortion
Minor: Mass/school shootings
hansbookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was everything I wanted, fast-paced, trust-no one, teenage drama, almost gory in places murder mystery with such a satisfactory ending. It's DARK, and twisty, but held my attention the entire time.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Abortion, and Murder