Reviews

The only way I can think of to sum up this book is kind of spoiler-y, so read beyond the tags at your own risk. Suffice it to say that this one did not impress me. I'm not giving it one star because it was badly written, per se, but because I feel a lingering distaste for it.

Spoiler

I thought this book was straight-up lurid. It reminded me of a VC Andrews novel. It was like Abbott took every taboo she could think of--incest, child abuse, pedophilia, abusive relationships--threw them in a blender, and this book was the end result. Reading it was so off-putting. I felt unsettled every time I picked it up, which I suppose may have been the intent, but I don't think that feeling worked in the way the author may have wanted it to work. I didn't feel like it was because the book was giving me messages that really made me think, but because I felt like the book was trying its best to shock and disgust me at every turn.

I don't remember if the other books I've read by Abbott also were written the way this one was, but I really hated the short bursts in each chapter. I felt like I was reading a bunch of newspaper headlines. It never really gave me a chance to get into the characters' heads, and that remove did the narrative no favors.

jthoms's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Duuuuude this was intense. I am SO glad that I gave another Abbott book a try because I just really felt like the other one I read by her was like meeting someone on an off-day. This was so incredibly stressful, and Derek was gross as HELL and I was so torn between putting the book down to get away from him and desperately hoping that he would STOP TALKING. I think the claustrophia of the house and the weird relationship between the 3 MCs was so well-crafted. It maybe slowed a tiny bit after the climax (if that is

Derek's death

). Also - did anyone else wonder if when Marie was making comments that she

had something in her bits that no one else had, was she suggesting that she was perhaps intersex?

Anyhoodles, great tension. Very into reading more from Ms. Abbott.

Content Warnings