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mrexroat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Suicide, Child death, Medical content, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Death, Self harm, Murder, Gore, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Blood
cateshewchuk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, and Death
fanboyriot'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? It's complicated
3.0
Honestly, most of what I didn’t like was the ending. We got no answers for anything really, and it left with absolutely no resolution. It just felt like it was dragged out and then it just ended. The switching POV I normally really like just didn’t work for me; they just seemed too close to one another and a few pages in I’d forget which character it even was.
(First Person POV)
Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Torture, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Ableism, Vomit, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Cursing, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, War, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Eating disorder
tiredtori's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Violence, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, and Gore
Minor: Emotional abuse, Grief, Drug use, Vomit, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt
mizareads13's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
heathermarie08'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
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, Death, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
wolfstackdocks'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? It's complicated
3.75
It’s somewhat dual perspective (which I think could’ve been done better with either more of Byatt’s perspective or none at all — following the perspective of the girls as a whole), but it’s not something that set me off the book. It took me 2-3 chapters to finally get invested in the story, but it was a pretty quick read once I did. I like the Tox — I like what it represents to have each girl experience it differently, and while there are warnings of body horror and gore, it’s pretty surface level — it is YA.
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Gore, Death, Blood, Body horror, Vomit, Death of parent, and Violence
adalieslittlelibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
funkylitchick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Medical trauma
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Gore, Abandonment, Ableism, Murder, and Body horror
mfrisk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the build up of the Tox and how that shaped Raxter and those within it. The scenes with the deer and one of the character’s parents were particularly chilling in their descriptions. The dual perspective was done fairly well though I think I was waiting for more from Byatt’s side in terms of her backstory and what drove her to lie.
Things I didn’t love were the seemingly out of nowhere nature of the romance. While there were some touching moments it was a bit confusing and didn’t feel fully realized.
And finally the ending was a huge disappointment. While you think the ending would at least give us more information about the navy and cdc involvement or about the tox or even what happens next we instead are led to an ending where we determine what happens. It felt like a chapter was missing and while I wasn’t expecting a happy ending perfect wrap up I definitely didn’t expect what we got.
I hope to read more from this author as I overall really enjoyed this book but there were definitely some aspects I just wanted to see be pushed further given the darkness of the story.
Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Child death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Animal death, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Vomit and Toxic friendship