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mckinleyelle's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Death of parent, Suicide, and Death
helplesswhilstdrying's review against another edition
2.0
This felt a world away from Lisa Jewell’s more recent works, the writing felt crafted, but the story line was pretty boring. I didn’t particularly gel with any of the characters.
The book is building to a big reveal that when it comes feels pretty underwhelming.
A quick read, but not a good one ❤️
The book is building to a big reveal that when it comes feels pretty underwhelming.
A quick read, but not a good one ❤️
eri_cat93's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars - this was a compelling story that really had me wanting to sort through Lorrie’s hoarded “treasures” along with her family. In the end it fell a little flat for me, a lot of tantalizing build up laced with dark omens and suspicions of what really happened to the bird family for it to all resolve in what basically amounts to “they all lived happily ever after”. A good read that kept me engaged but nothing too overly special in my opinion.
bookph1le's review against another edition
4.0
A well-done family saga with what felt to me like a thoughtful portrayal of mental illness and how it preys on a family. The characters all felt real and distinct to me, and I had a lot of empathy for all of them, messy as they were.
danielizabeth2608's review against another edition
3.0
Not the book I was expecting it to be but still great! I'm so used to thriller mystery storyline's when it comes to Lisa's books. I did at times find it very descriptive and drawn out but overall it wasn't a bad read.
georginamay22's review
dark
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A slow build up for a disappointing ending, I was expecting something more than kissed his mum The psychology behind it was quite interesting but should have raised earlier.
redvelvetpenguins's review against another edition
4.0
I really loved this heartbreaking and enduring story.
Lorelai's descent into hoarderdom is so subtle but also so starch. Its also bewildering that her children seemed to not be able to extend her even the barest amount of empathy to this being a psychological disease. But with every personal blow she falls deeper into the hole.
TLDR; why aren't more people on therapy? Why don't parents put their kids in therapy when traumatic shit happens?
Lorelai's descent into hoarderdom is so subtle but also so starch. Its also bewildering that her children seemed to not be able to extend her even the barest amount of empathy to this being a psychological disease. But with every personal blow she falls deeper into the hole.
TLDR; why aren't more people on therapy? Why don't parents put their kids in therapy when traumatic shit happens?
kpwilliamson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
5.0
evarano's review against another edition
2.0
This is hands down my least favourite LJ so far and I’ve read most of them! At the very end of this book there’s a brief interview with the author of a hoarding book in which LJ says that she was deep into writing another story and scratched it, her publisher called needing a book super quickly and she had an experience that led her to this story.
Someone else left a review (I can’t remember who sorry!) that said they thought that the above seemed like exactly what happened with this story and I agree. I think I’ve come to realize that the earlier the LJ story, the less of a mystery/thriller it is and the more of a domestic story and I just don’t enjoy them even close to as much.
This is one of those stories where every person is shitty in their own way. It’s really hard to read a story when you hate every character. Now, I didn’t mind Meg or Vicky, but they still had their shit. Everyone else was a lost cause, so unhealthy mentally, so dysfunctional and toxic towards each other. I understand that this is reflective of real lives, but it was hard to read people doing such horrible things to each other. All the lead ups were either predictable or very anti climatic. I can’t believe how easily some were forgiven and how things were handled, the secrets that were kept, etc. It was just crazy. The story did keep me reading because I did want to find out the secrets but I just felt bad for all these people. I think there were also parts left our, namely, where did all these people get the money for these things? That wasn’t explained enough. Also, I know this book was published in 2014, but I absolutely hated all the comments about characters being fat. I thought that was so unnecessary.
Someone else left a review (I can’t remember who sorry!) that said they thought that the above seemed like exactly what happened with this story and I agree. I think I’ve come to realize that the earlier the LJ story, the less of a mystery/thriller it is and the more of a domestic story and I just don’t enjoy them even close to as much.
This is one of those stories where every person is shitty in their own way. It’s really hard to read a story when you hate every character. Now, I didn’t mind Meg or Vicky, but they still had their shit. Everyone else was a lost cause, so unhealthy mentally, so dysfunctional and toxic towards each other. I understand that this is reflective of real lives, but it was hard to read people doing such horrible things to each other. All the lead ups were either predictable or very anti climatic. I can’t believe how easily some were forgiven and how things were handled, the secrets that were kept, etc. It was just crazy. The story did keep me reading because I did want to find out the secrets but I just felt bad for all these people. I think there were also parts left our, namely, where did all these people get the money for these things? That wasn’t explained enough. Also, I know this book was published in 2014, but I absolutely hated all the comments about characters being fat. I thought that was so unnecessary.