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bronzel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Death, Alcohol, and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Drug use, and Gun violence
Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Animal death, Sexual content, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy
whirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Violence, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Murder
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Outing, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Bullying
Minor: Infertility, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Pregnancy, War, and Fire/Fire injury
undertherowantree's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Outing, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Self harm
Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, and Abandonment
kimveach's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: War, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Self harm, Cursing, Drug use, Alcohol, Classism, Infertility, Mental illness, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
cait's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Minor: Abandonment, Violence, Bullying, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Drug use, Grief, and Infidelity
bornachoker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Classism, Cursing, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, Violence, and War
Moderate: Eating disorder, Body shaming, and Drug use
Minor: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Drug abuse
kaylamoran's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Stalking, Death, Murder, Alcohol, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cursing, Addiction, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Outing, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Bullying, and Homophobia
writtenontheflyleaves's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
🌟🌟🌟✨
🦌 The plot: A group of friends who met at Oxford University many years ago goes to a remote Scottish loch to celebrate New Year. On the surface, it's all fun and games, but in less than 24 hours, one of them will be dead, and as the authorities struggle to get there through the snow, one thing becomes certain: the murderer is still among them.
I don't read a lot of thrillers, but this was lent to me by a friend and proved to be an accidentally festive read as I read it over New Year!
The story is narrated from multiple perspectives across five characters: three of the friends who visit the loch, and two of the people who work there. (Interestingly, they're all told in first-person apart from the one male narrator - there's probably an essay on female subjectivity in there somewhere)
You don't find out who the murderer or their victim are until right at the end, and while in another book this might have annoyed me, here I thought it worked to keep me suspicious of everybody, especially in conjunction with Foley's characterisation.
While some books I've read make rich characters into caricatures, usually with some version of "I'm better than you, peasant" popping up in the dialogue to show that Yes, They're Bad, I thought this one did a good job of showing the different shades of ugliness and entitlement that are possible in characters like these. This heightened the drama because really, any of these people might have been capable of hurting each other - not because they were supervillains, but because they were spoilt or vain or desperate or all three.
I didn't see the murderer's identity coming until the last moment and they turned out to be such an interesting villain, too - I was really impressed! My only gripe is that after a really carefully-paced and -written main arc, the story wrapped up in a rush. It didn't seem that the emotional fallout from the murder was actually that big - [REDACTED]'s murder actually seemed quite convenient for a lot of the group - and I'd have liked there to be more reflection on what was actually lost in the course of the novel.
🦌 Read it if you're not usually that into thrillers (me neither - but I liked this!) And want something atmospheric with a critique of privilege and some really strong group dynamics between characters!
🚫 Avoid it if you prefer darker or more elaborate crime stories as this isn't that twisty. Also, it goes without saying, check TWs before reading
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Murder
Moderate: War, Drug use, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
amberrenfrey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Murder, Drug use, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Fatphobia, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Classism
mackenzals's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, and Gun violence
Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit