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kermit_the_wrong'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
bookish_bry'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
3.75
I really enjoyed the choice of having a narrator that was intentionally hiding her thoughts from the reader for an in universe reason. That was very fun.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer and Car accident
This story is very dark. A character is burnt to death in some detail. A resurrection is done which involves a character putting their mouth on a corpse magots and all.chrisljm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The best part of the book, for me, was the resolution to the mystery of what happened to Father. It seemed like a great conclusion, only to find out I still had ~150 pages left. I know part of the premise is Carolyn finding her humanity again, but since that arch is set after the climax of finding out about Father, the juxtaposition in tone of these two parts seemed very strange to me and made me enjoy the last quarter a lot less.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Slavery, and Car accident
joe_dmh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Racism, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
mondovertigo'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
the_one_krissy'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? Yes
4.5
It's a whole bunch of crazy, though. Crazy but the kind of crazy that keeps your eyes glued to the page. Be warned though, this book is entertaining but also stuffed to the brim with sick and twisted cruel things, and those who are particularly sensitive to cruelty against children might want to skip this one altogether. It's very brutal in places.
The characters of this book I really enjoyed, even if some of them - okay, most of them - are totally bonkers. Erwin was my favourite, but the whole cast was excellent. Overall, this book really gripped me and was very close to a five-star read... I'm not even sure what it is that I felt was missing. Some elusive little spark, maybe, that tips the scale from an excellent read to a sublime one. Still, this was an absolutely wonderful book I enjoyed with mixed feelings of slack-jawed admiration and abject horror.
You underestimate linguists and librarians at your own peril. Just saying.
And I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open when this author publishes something new.
Graphic: Child abuse and Child death
Moderate: Gore, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
But overall the book was okay. Super slow going, but the idea was good. I understand needing quite a bit of the back stories leading up to the present time now that I've finished it, but while reading, it made the story drag on a little. It also kind of feels like a couple ideas were thrown together that didn't get fully fleshed out, but the main thing of the book is
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism
cowboylikeb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Car accident
eegekay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Car accident
yavin_iv'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? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Grief, and Car accident