Scan barcode
kaidoz's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The main characters were definitely likeable. They had their issues- a lot of them, in fact - but it just made the story better. As for literally every other character in the book? All annoying, except for maybe the cops who had names but didn’t really do anything besides be side characters. The story itself is good, but at some points I could just tell that a man was writing a teenage girl. The way that two queer girls were both bisexual and one of them insinuated wanting a foursome with two men, or how the main character’s girlfriend was just acting so much like how a teenage boy would when she quite literally wasn’t one kind of irked me. Maybe it was just a feeling, but it weirded me out. Other than that, the story is great. It did a good job at displaying mental illness and inner turmoil. I really enjoyed the plot and where it went. Even though the ending wasn’t completely satisfying, aka tying up every loose end I still found it acceptable. I also liked how the author didn’t force a relationship between two very damaged characters, despite it being mentioned a bit. I didn’t feel the need for another chapter or anything. Over all, I liked it.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Gore, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Excrement, Fatphobia, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide attempt
Okay, there’s a lot to get into with this book. The main characters are both recovering from a trauma they experienced. The trauma is one of them attempting to bomb a mall for his kidnapper (this is written in the summary, so no spoilers). Since mass bombing, a subject frequently mentioned in this book, is not an available tag, I tagged it as mass shooting. Mass shootings themselves are also briefly mentioned at one point. The main female character has trichotillomania, dermatillomania, anxiety disorder and PTSD, so there are multiple scenes where she is seen ripping out hair, picking the skin off of her fingers, or having panic attacks. The main male character has intrusive thoughts which represent his captor. This paragraph will be talking about spoilers related to the adult/minor, child abuse, kidnapping, rape, animal, and psychosis tags.
More...