Scan barcode
w0lfyfr3n's review against another edition
3.0
I did not like the main characters. Lottie is judgemental and self righteous, Alice is mean and pretentious. They both seem to be aware of this but do very little to curb it. The blurb is slightly misleading in that they actually cannot stand to be around eachother for a large part of the book, and the romance bits are scarce. Note: I particularly did not like the fact that Lottie thought she was asexual until she met Alice. It was a throwaway sentence that achieved nothing except feeding into the harmful idea that ace people just need to meet the right person to feel attraction.
The sentences were also packed with architectural descriptions that I spent a lot of time googling and then just gave up on. All the more interesting characters
Moving on to what I eventually enjoyed though...I liked what this book was trying to say about the anger of women, how it grows from powerlessness, how it's often more unacceptable than a man's. However I did not agree with the bit about female violence. Anger and invasive thoughts are normal, but acting on them in the way that Alice and some of the others did, even before all the supernatural stuff came into play, is NOT. Sometimes it felt like this book was having a girlboss moment (Women can be violent too ! 💪) and as an afab person myself, I'm not sure I was a fan of that. I'm glad this was corrected towards the end
However this books gets all its points for tying up the mystery super well. There was so much to untangle that it was ultimately upredictable, and towards the end almost every single mystery is resolved. The pieces fell in place in a very satisfying manner. The last 25% is definitely worth the haul, which is why this is still a 3/5.
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual assault and Terminal illness
sage_alexandra'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Dementia, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
the animal death is pretty devastating and described in detail. below and spoiler tagged, I will very briefly say what happened and where, but it won't reveal any plot points:fin_pilot'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
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Misogyny
dontreadthelastpage1989's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Self harm, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
dutchyreads'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? Yes
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny
mady_grace_cooper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
autumnxrose's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Misogyny, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
supershy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Self harm, Torture, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Self harm
rachtmh'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
Murder mystery, Academia, Gothic literature, Possession, Female rage and Sapphic/Asexual/Neurodiversity rep, plus so much more! What more could you need in a book.
Lauren Stevens work has fast become among my favourites with her incredible insights and history on the treatment and expectations of women woven into fantasy and mystery.
I myself turned into a bit of a Sherlock reading this book, constantly desperate to use every little bit of information we were fed to try and solve everything before the eventual reveal.
The characters and relationships are so real and natural and the setting is so darkly romantic and ominous.
Truly an outstanding read.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment
fanboyriot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Spice Level: n/a
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment