I’m officially done trying to enjoy any of Sager’s novels. I had hope for this one but…it ain’t it. This book was just as much a disaster as the previous two I’ve read, if not more.

Let’s begin.

I really don’t enjoy any of Sager’s main characters, but this one was especially excruciating. She came across really annoying with her defiance of anything to do with “the Book,” even when presented with evidence of its partial honesty. I’m not sure how one can hold on to an unfounded opinion formed as a 9 year old when they’re an adult being faced with differing facts. So even though at the end it was revealed that some of it was a lie, it stands that as a child, teenager and adult that has no reason to think otherwise, she was pretty adamant about consistently condemning her parents as all bad because they lied about “everything.”

Another thing I’ve realized about Sager’s writing that I absolutely hate is his way of telling the readers instead of showing. A good writer doesn’t need to spell out every. single. emotion or explain every. single. momentous discovery. I find myself rolling my eyes every few pages because I, as the reader, get it. When it’s spelled out, it almost feels insulting to the readers’ intelligence.

Can we talk about that honest to god RIDICULOUS ending?! I’m sorry, but no parent I know is going to hide A DEAD FUCKING BODY because they’re scared their FIVE YEAR OLD is going to go to prison?!? Forensics exist for a reason friends and no one can convince me that a sensible pair of parents would ever, ever, ever make such a rash and horrible decision, no matter how much they love their kid. I have a five year old, I get it, I love her. I don’t break the law for her or assume she’s a murderer with no evidence!!! Good god, I literally can’t roll my eyes far enough.

A couple other random tidbits I didn’t enjoy:
- The dad’s explanation of Maggie’s birth. This one is super nit picky, I’ll admit. But it’s scenes like this written into mainstream culture like books and movies that make birthing people needlessly fearful. Can a nuchal cord be dangerous? Yes. Is it the majority of the time? No.
- Every adult in Maggie’s young life that was so quick to explain away the things she was experiencing. Bless the psychologists heart, she tried. But there’s room to tell children that what they’re experiencing is real because it’s real to them and to then give coping skills for handling it. Instead of just saying oh well you’re making it up because you’re so imaginative!
- Reading Baneberry Hall became the equivalent of reading A Movie In My Mind from fucking Survive the Night.