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ggreen1379's review
5.0
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Violence, Vomit, and Murder
illiteratewench's review against another edition
4.5
The only reason this isn't a 5 star is that I'm sure sure some of the themes hold up under lots of critical thought and analysis. It was for sure a 5 star experience, I stayed up to finish it and didn't want to put it down. It's twisty and turny and you're never sure whether or not Josie and her story should be trusted at face value or not.
The things I don't think hold up with deeper thought are
Josie's husband Walter is 27 years older than her. They have been together since she was 15 and he was 42. He was a contractor doing electrical work on her family estate, as well as dating her mother. He was already cheating on his wife and two sons with Josie's mother, eventually leaving them for Josie.
Josie twists many things about Walter but these are facts that, to me, are irredeemable. The fact that Jewell tries to pull a "but he's actually a really good guy!" on us with a man who cheated on his wife, then cheated on both his wife and mistress with the mistress's underage daughter who he marries and has another 2 kids with, is insane. Especially when the mistress, Pat, claims that Josie (again, her 15 year old daughter) was a sociopath who seduced Walter to steal him from her. I'm sorry but a grown man cannot be seduced by a child unless he is a p*do. End of story.
So yeah, that leaves me really conflicted with how to rate this. But again, the experience was just so fun and juicy at the time. My rating might be inflated because I don't really read thriller, so maybe one day I'll look back critically and bump this down, but at the moment I still really enjoyed the book and the experience, but I would hesitate to recommend it for this reason.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual content, Rape, and Stalking
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit and Bullying
evreardon's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.25
Overall, it was twisty and weird. I loved the concept of the plot but wasn’t 100% thrilled with the execution.
I would have loved to seen more with Josie’s family. Some truth.
I think what I don’t like about this book is the unreliable characters & how you don’t actually know what’s completely true.
Graphic: Alcohol and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Murder, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Vomit, Death of parent, and Pedophilia
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Drug abuse, Excrement, and Grief
jr_johnson's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Alcohol, and Mental illness
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Kidnapping, and Violence
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Excrement, and Vomit
anissawren's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Confinement, Grief, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Infidelity
t_higgsreviews's review against another edition
5.0
CAWPILE = 9.14
Graphic: Confinement, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pandemic/Epidemic, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Grief, Addiction, Kidnapping, Bullying, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
ohyeahshebomb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Body shaming, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Pedophilia, Violence, Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Alcohol, Child death, Excrement, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, and Sexual assault
emmehooks'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
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death
Minor: Vomit, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Mental illness
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: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Vomit, Blood, Cursing, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, and Violence