people dislike this book because they go into it expecting agggtm 2.0. this is not that!! (and frankly, why is that an expectation? i get that it's the same author, but the premise is clearly quite different)

i liked that this was very family centric, specifically asking what a character who can't trust her own family would do. it was interesting because not only could bel not get help from family, but she didn't really have an established support system in general, whether that be friends, teachers, neighbours, etc. she was really on her own for a large portion of this book, which made it feel that much scarier.

some parts of the mystery were predictable, but the vibes overall were foreboding enough for me to not care honestly!

*4.5