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jodar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
An unsettling mystery novel in which the narrator seeks to uncover the motivation for someone who is harassing her family – and the narrator herself specifically – in a very weird way. The reader encounters truth and falsehood, toxic fantasies, and happy and unhealthy relationships within and across generations.
The psychological uncertainty and creepiness kept me immersed in the story; however, the narrator’s solution to her dilemma was morally repellant, even though it wasn’t wholly unexpected. At the very end of the story, some falsehoods are maintained and kept secret from the outside world.
Perhaps this is an appropriate sort of mystery novel for a post-truth era in which some believe that there are bad lies and good lies but that it is naive to endeavour to live in truth.
The psychological uncertainty and creepiness kept me immersed in the story; however, the narrator’s solution to her dilemma was morally repellant, even though it wasn’t wholly unexpected. At the very end of the story, some falsehoods are maintained and kept secret from the outside world.
Perhaps this is an appropriate sort of mystery novel for a post-truth era in which some believe that there are bad lies and good lies but that it is naive to endeavour to live in truth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Murder
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
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