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awxhhlilla's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Blood, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, and Murder
Minor: Bullying
butteredtoastinbed's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I did enjoy this book for the most part and it was mysterious and unique enough to keep me thoroughly engaged through the whole story.
One of my favourite aspects of the novel was how gradually the pieces of the mystery were revealed to the main character (and to me as the reader); the slow revelation of the story building up was a lot of fun and did keep me engaged as the story panned out. Additionally, I thought the settings were really well written and I never had trouble with visualising a location (which I find to be rare). I also really liked one of the characters which helped to keep my motivation up and keep me engaged through the book to see how the story played out in regards to them.
Having said this though, there was only one character that I really cared about which did bother me as usually in books a lovable set of characters are important. Although, this wasn’t enough of an issue for me to become disinterested. Looking back, there was also a large section of roughly 100 pages in the middle of the novel where it felt a bit slow and unnecessary, where nothing really happened. However, at the time of reading I didn’t really notice this and it didn’t impact my enjoyment of the story at the time either.
As well as this, the twists weren’t especially shocking or unexpected - I saw a couple of them coming from far away, but I still enjoyed the revelation and how that continued to play out in the story, so it didn’t impact my reading experience too much.
All in all, I think of this novel more positively than negatively: it was interesting, unique and drew me in really quickly. Although I’m unlikely to reread this book soon I would still recommend it, especially to those who like a YA mystery.
One of my favourite aspects of the novel was how gradually the pieces of the mystery were revealed to the main character (and to me as the reader); the slow revelation of the story building up was a lot of fun and did keep me engaged as the story panned out. Additionally, I thought the settings were really well written and I never had trouble with visualising a location (which I find to be rare). I also really liked one of the characters which helped to keep my motivation up and keep me engaged through the book to see how the story played out in regards to them.
Having said this though, there was only one character that I really cared about which did bother me as usually in books a lovable set of characters are important. Although, this wasn’t enough of an issue for me to become disinterested. Looking back, there was also a large section of roughly 100 pages in the middle of the novel where it felt a bit slow and unnecessary, where nothing really happened. However, at the time of reading I didn’t really notice this and it didn’t impact my enjoyment of the story at the time either.
As well as this, the twists weren’t especially shocking or unexpected - I saw a couple of them coming from far away, but I still enjoyed the revelation and how that continued to play out in the story, so it didn’t impact my reading experience too much.
All in all, I think of this novel more positively than negatively: it was interesting, unique and drew me in really quickly. Although I’m unlikely to reread this book soon I would still recommend it, especially to those who like a YA mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Animal death, Drug use, and Bullying
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