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yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The beginning was a little slow then there was a lot happening. After the twist was revealed I wasn’t as interested in how they solve the issue. I liked Francis as a character with some complexity. The rest of the Doyle family gave me the Ick and I think that was the point. The author did a good job characterizing the Doyle family
I don’t think the book was bad I just think it was mysterious, then the mystery was revealed and shocking and everything else was just fine.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, and Alcohol
lizzie24601's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If you like the body horror part of this, I recommend also reading Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon!
Graphic: Death and Sexual assault
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Racism, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
ravenpuff's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
There wasn't a ton of character development but I understand why. Most of the characters feel empty, but I feel like they're supposed to given the plot development in the second half of the book.
The book did a good job of reflecting the time period, especially the racism, sexism, misogyny, and the really gross way Howard views "purity".
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Suicide and Fire/Fire injury
bugaboobear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The plot itself was good and the pacing picked up around the half way mark and kept me reading until it was finished.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Incest, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Murder
Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
justinecm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I have nothing bad to say about it. This was a decadent sort of unsettling that had me guessing right up to the very end. I had such a blast reading it.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Incest, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy
sophiesometimesreads'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I had a good time with this book. I enjoyed the overall plotline and the characters were intriguing, though many were unlikeable (as they were supposed to be). The resolution to the mystery component was not what I expected but made sense in context of the story, and a few things I'd noticed in the earlier story tied into it.
The main way in which this book fell down a bit for me was in the pacing. The first two thirds were pretty slow, and we took a long time to get little snippets of information and hints towards what was going on. In saying this, I was still intrigued enough to keep reading and I'm glad I did, as the last third was really interesting. I just wanted a little bit of the pace of the last third in the rest of the book.
The actual style of writing, though, was really good and I enjoyed how atmospheric Silvia Moreno-Garcia's writing was, I'd definitely be open to picking up one of her books again. I'm also intending to read more horror books in the future. I'd heard this book was a good introduction to the horror genre and I agree with that statement, so if you're looking to dabble in horror then this book could be a good place to start!
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Rape
meidayy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Incest
lorenag5's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
chronicacademia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Gun violence, Rape, and Pregnancy