I felt like this book was trying too hard. It explores important themes, but everything is presented with such heavy-handed commentary and spoon-feeding that I lost all interest. 

 

Energy: Indignant. Grating. Hostile. 

 

🐺 Growls

Felt too stereotypical, one-dimensional gender wars [portraying men as lecherous or foolish, while women are idealized as having almost supernatural goodness]. Main character was giving ‘not like other girls’ energy. The plot (especially Mina’s decisions) lacked logic and emotional depth. Explored commentary by reducing everything to formulaic “learn a lesson” arcs. Attempts at symbolism are so heavy-handed they lost impact. Convenient, almost cartoony, predictable solutions leading up to the conclusion. 

 

Overly simplistic, surface-level, emotionally flat but melodramatic, purple prose-ish storytelling. Over-explaining the characters’ thoughts and actions in a way that had me feeling like I was reading a children’s book (the style, not content...don’t give this to children lol).

 

Formatting of text messages and emails. The visceral descriptions and medical mystery. 

 

Scene: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Mainly a small village in Wales.

Perspectives: Our main character works as a mental health professional specializing in female psychology who is processing their own traumas. We also get the perspective of an unknown person being offered a mysterious high paying job at a night club. We also get snippets of emails, medical reports, newspaper articles, and transcripts. 

Timeline: Current (2010s or 2020s).

🔥 Fuel: Withholding – what happened in Mina’s past? Emotional stakes. Moral dilemmas. Quests and infiltrating the bad guys. Commentary. 

📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief folklore

 

Bleach. Soap. Verbena. Tea tree oil. Loamy earth. Drizzling rain. Sour breath. Seagulls. Beach campfires. Secret passageways. 

·       Witchy Welsh mom, folklore, superstitions

·       Return to hometown

·       Psychological mystery

·       Mysterious medical condition

·       Feminist questing and teamin gup

·       Detective duo amateur sleuthing

·       Supernatural darkness

·       Fampir lore

·       First love reunited romance

·       Deep in the character’s mind, inner monologues

 

Content Heads-Up: Obsessive compulsive thoughts, rituals. Trypophobic stuff (brief). Seizure (on page). Vomit, sickness, weakness (graphic, on page). Sexual content (consenting). Physical attacks, overpowering others. Trafficking, confinement, drugging. Sexual assault, violence, rape. Nicotine (tobacco, cigarettes). Dog attack. Blood.

 

Rep: Welsh. Cis. Hetero. Bi. Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Facial scars. Diabetes.

 

📚 Format: Library Hardcover