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tsalagitiffany's review
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault
magyklyxdelish's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, War, and Classism
gabriellerza's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Animal death and Sexual assault
mysterymom40'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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Car accident, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and War
menastarr's review
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood
Minor: Suicide
bookishmillennial'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
I enjoy an unreliable narrator (like, as in we have no idea if we should be trusting her or not for the majority of the book, because she barely trusts herself!)
Though this wasn't my favorite (I had issues with the pacing especially, because I did have to will myself to pick this back up sometimes), I would try out another psychological thriller from the author in the future. I appreciated the OCD representation without wholly villainizing the person with OCD, and spotlighting mental disability as "evil" as it typically is in this genre especially.
Check trigger warnings below and take care while reading
Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury
starklinqs's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I thought this book started off strong and ended well enough, but the middle dragged a lot for me. This didn’t really feel like a thriller, and at some point the book just felt incredibly repetitive and I was wishing they would just get to the point.
The main character was really interesting though - despite not liking her, I still felt protective of her character, and I enjoyed reading her perspective. The story really felt like a book on mother/daughter relationships with a little bit of thriller thrown in - maybe if it was marketed differently I would have enjoyed this a bit more.
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, and Death of parent
julessssss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Annie is an unreliable narrator and I found myself both caring deeply for her but also disliking her (which was a perfect balance). I was compelled to know what was going to happen next and what information was being withheld, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
I did feel like the resolution was a little lackluster though, and if I would tweak anything about this novel, it would be that.
I will be back for more of what this author does in the future.
I cannot say I would recommend this to just anyone (if you are interested, consider looking at a list of trigger/content warnings), however, if you are a horror or thriller fan, this might be a great fit.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for granting me a free and advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: War
cozy_little_booknook's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I love a thriller. I especially love a thriller that’s dealing with larger issues beyond the crime(s) themselves. The way Nguyen writes about the immigrant experience, PTSD, mental illness, mother/daughter relationships, and generational trauma is important and timely. At times, the messaging can be heavy handed if the reader considers themselves slightly versed in the topic(s) above, but overall the writing was a welcome addition to the thriller as a whole.
Where the novel lost me was in the pacing and time jumps. A lot of the chapters in the middle section of the book generally ended on the same note or even the same sentence. Some chapters felt like lateral moves as opposed to steps in the plot. It was also difficult to keep track of where in the overall story a certain chapter was taking place. Both of these aspects messed with the pacing and took me out of the story.
Overall, I would generally recommend this book to someone who enjoys thrillers and family dramas, but I would warn them of the pacing issues in advance.
Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Police brutality
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury