Reviews

I honestly don't know what was happening in this book, but the writing was really interesting, almost like poetry. I just felt like it didn't really go anywhere and the POV choices were confusing.

There are definitely some interesting ideas, but they are underdeveloped and don't seem to combine well together. Many things are unresolved. For example,

Tijana kind of just disappears, why was she even included at the start of part 2? She just dates Ore for a bit then dips. I think it's implied that Miri was actually the one who hurt her cousin, but it's barely addressed.

And what about Jalil?

His inclusion in the scene with the Silver women seemed really random cause I thought it implied he was haunting Miri, but after reading about this book online I guess she ate him?? I literally thought it was a dream sequence! I love subtlety usually but I just didn't get enough from this text to understand what was happening, what was real, or what was important. Even now that I know it's supposed to be a sort of vampire novel, it just was too vague.

Miri's pica is certainly dreadful to read about, but I can't help but wonder why this book was focused on an eating disorder instead of a sleep disorder, since it would make more sense with

her guilt at falling asleep when her mom died. Why did her brother even say that stuff anyways?? He could just as easily have said not to eat and then I feel it would have been more relevant to the rest of the story.

Maybe I'm missing something? I have many other similar questions, but I will stop here. The writing was so good! It's a shame the story was so confusing.

Content Warnings

brisingr's review against another edition

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2.0

okay?

njdarkish's review against another edition

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3.0

There is a lot to love with this book-- the prose is lyrical and beautiful, breaking conventions in ways that are surprising but totally work. The characters are interesting and sympathetic.
There are some things that don't work as well-- the story is inconsistent paced and hard to follow, particularly with how the narration shifts from character to character to occasional third-person without rhyme or reason. You often read an entire section not knowing whose perspective you were just in, or having to use clues to figure it out for far too long. That destroyed the transparency of the storytelling for me so many times. I also felt like the climax of the story was barely built to, it just kind of happens at the end without having the components of the story come together in a meaningful way. I also felt like there were too many threads that were thrown out without going anywhere-- like being asked as the reader, "do you really think Eliot went to Africa?" What was that? You can't throw things like that at me and not give me any more information.

emilyjaco25's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 ⭐️

This was beautifully written and haunting and confusing but kept me intrigued the whole time.

travelreader85's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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