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jlchabotte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Abortion, Blood, and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual content, Confinement, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Vomit
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abortion, Infertility, Body horror, Confinement, Miscarriage, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Infidelity, Torture, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence
ash_bees's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Child abuse, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Rape, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy
katvou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Gore, Murder, Death, Gaslighting, Child death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Physical abuse, Torture, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Vomit, Blood, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content and Infertility
tabbyjleonard's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Medical content, Violence, and Blood
eviemayhem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The climax- Amazing.
Everything is downhill from there. It felt much too fast and then somehow the true villain (objectively) of the story is no longer the villain and it all resolves too quickly. It is intense and overwhelming and messy. The writer is amazing, but the pacing on this one was just too fast at the end to be satisfying.
Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Child death, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Ableism, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual assault
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Infertility, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Stalking, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Gore, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Vomit, Abandonment, Death, Abortion, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
piperclover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The first few chapters were fairly slow and I was worried about the pacing but it quickly got good and I was hooked. This book does a fantastic job at introducing elements that you think will be the spooky clues in the overall plot but then you learn it has a normal explanation so you're lulled into false security until its later revealed that it was actually something bad all along. I absolutely loved that because it kept me on my toes and second guessing everything.
In the summary you are told that Camille has to finally tell Verity that she's been seeing ghosts and she does it in such a callous, cruel way that I don't understand. She was afraid of Verity being institutionalized for her curse but then weaponizes it to drive Verity away. It makes me think that the author used that conflict as a catalyst for the real plot bc it doesn't really make sense for Camille's motivations.
I think everything I have to say from here on out are spoilers.
Where it went wrong for me was when Verity cheated on Alex. This was at 79% of the way and my enjoyment crashed hard and swiftly bc of it. I was annoyed by the stupid thing where the female mc questions her chemistry and attraction for the "good guy" in favor of the sizzling, on sight lust for the "bad guy". Thats such an obnoxious over used trope and I find it harmful to perpetuate the idea that girls and women only ever *really* want a mildly toxic bad boy over the genuinely good to and good for her good guy.
This only lasts about 2 chapters and Verity shuts Victor down hard so I hope the author meant it as a dismissal of that above trope but I cant forgive that she voluntarily kissed him AFTER she knows its not Alex and she has dreams about him while daydreaming while awake. It's disgusting and I hate cheating. I'm not sure if I should rate this really low bc I hate cheating so much and it made me so angry or if I should weigh the parts I did enjoy a little more positively. It makes me dislike Verity a little bc her morals are so weak she willingly, with no coercion or force, cheats on her fiance. I also really dislike that Victor is characterized when we first meet him as the hot headed super sexy charming man that sweeps a Verity off of her feet and tries to convince her that she can have more than settling for "boring" or "safe" but ditching Alex and marrying him instead.
Victor is the root of all of my problems with this book. If he didn't exist, I would probably give this 5 stars. If he was characterized differently, again probably 5 stars. I despise that he is a one tone, evil for no reason villain who wipes everyone he can out. He could've been so interesting bc his emotions, powers, link to Julian, dismissal from the manor, and desire for approval could have been so compelling but the author gives up and instead writes a cliche villain archetype with no depth at all.
The last 15 or so percent of the book is so rushed, shallow, and obvious that it ruined the ending.
I'm annoyed by this because I want this to be a wrapped up duolog but that sentence and the epilogue is a obvious set up for a third book and I just don't know if I care for a third book. I feel like everything that I need answered has been answered and there's nothing to go from here except to continue making up plot for a third book.
In the epilogue you're seeing the corpse preparers ready the bodies for the ceremony that the people of the petal do when someone dies. At first I thought that was a cool because it was definitive finality that the bad guys are dead and the story is over but then the last sentence of the epilogue is presumablyVictor's body twitching on the table. While I do find this compelling and interesting I just keep going back to the fact that I don't think there's anything to do with it in a third book. If Victor is alive then it means somehow Alex's paralysis has been fixed but if it's actually Alex on the morgue table, it means the Victor is the one who is married to Verity and the third book is going to have to be her untangling herself from him and defeating him.
I don't even know if any of this makes sense but there was just so many things happening and I didn't like the entire character of Victor which really clouded my enjoyment and if the next entire book is going to be about Victor again I don't know if I want to read it.
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Child abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Medical content
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