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rereader33's review
2.0
You know what? I don't care enough about this novel to do a full rant review (plus I'm playing Pokemon right now and that's DEFINITELY top priority) so I'm just going to list my problems with this book in bullet points to make this faster. Okay? Okay great, let's get this fuckin' done:
-None of the characters have any personality or characterization that is: interesting, engaging, relatable, or anything that makes them more than cardboard cutouts with a handful of emotions smeared on them. Annie is overbearing, demanding, crazy as fuck, and angry. Ben likes music. Daisy is...umm...shit, what was she?...you know what, I don't care, moving on.
-The prose is way too simple by adult standards. And the writing was basic and completely unsubtle. As I said in my update, if you don't where the story is going after a certain point, then you've obviously never read a piece of fiction in your life. EVER.
-The final showdown/climax/whatever that mess was towards the end was super fucking rushed and held little to no emotional weight.
-The conclusion was rushed as well and felt undeserving, like the author wanted to wrap everything up in a neat little bow but ended up slapping on a cheap, tacky bow that nearly fell off.
That's about it. Honestly, if you really want to read this, by all means do so. It's not the worst thing I've ever read and it makes for a quick summer read. Just don't go into it with high expectations.
-None of the characters have any personality or characterization that is: interesting, engaging, relatable, or anything that makes them more than cardboard cutouts with a handful of emotions smeared on them. Annie is overbearing, demanding, crazy as fuck, and angry. Ben likes music. Daisy is...umm...shit, what was she?...you know what, I don't care, moving on.
-The prose is way too simple by adult standards. And the writing was basic and completely unsubtle. As I said in my update, if you don't where the story is going after a certain point, then you've obviously never read a piece of fiction in your life. EVER.
-The final showdown/climax/whatever that mess was towards the end was super fucking rushed and held little to no emotional weight.
-The conclusion was rushed as well and felt undeserving, like the author wanted to wrap everything up in a neat little bow but ended up slapping on a cheap, tacky bow that nearly fell off.
That's about it. Honestly, if you really want to read this, by all means do so. It's not the worst thing I've ever read and it makes for a quick summer read. Just don't go into it with high expectations.
dancinrio's review
1.0
I stuck with this through writing I wasn’t enjoying to get to the twists but found those to be equally disappointing. I remain unsurprised and unmoved.
fluffypanda1082's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
k_lenn's review
2.0
Not horrible but looking back at this book, I can't think of a twist that wasn't glaringly obvious from pretty early on.
The victim-blaming was pretty atrocious, too. Rant incoming:
There's absolutely no mention of how he was responsible because she couldn't consent. Are we supposed to blame her, too? Yikes.
Also: newspapers can't legally publish pictures of underage victims. Why would they? Surely it's the teacher being a statutory rapist and how that lead to his wife to commit suicide that's the news, not who the victim is. It makes no sense.
Daisy drinks hard liquor here and there throughout the pregnancy and doesn't bother with even the smallest and most routine prenatal care. Not to mention, Annie is supposed to love and care for her grandson — she thinks he'll be her son, after all— and yet she offers Daisy alcohol, doesn't give her prenatal vitamins, etc. Wouldn't she be super anal about her health and things that'd make her pregnancy high-risk, all things considered?
The ending was very convenient and plot twists, as mentioned before, were incredibly obvious. I'm not sure if I'm convinced at all.
All that being said, it wasn't that bad of a read. Went by easy and quick enough, for sure. As long as you're not looking for a carefully planned and plotted book with plot twists that'll knock you off your feet, I think this is okay.
The victim-blaming was pretty atrocious, too. Rant incoming:
Spoiler
I'd understand if Annie was the only person victim-blaming because she's looking for any and all reasons to hate Daisy... but she's not alone. Everybody who learns of it— her teachers, her friends, her parents— want to blame her instead of the ADULT who committed STATUTORY RAPE. She was 15!There's absolutely no mention of how he was responsible because she couldn't consent. Are we supposed to blame her, too? Yikes.
Also: newspapers can't legally publish pictures of underage victims. Why would they? Surely it's the teacher being a statutory rapist and how that lead to his wife to commit suicide that's the news, not who the victim is. It makes no sense.
Daisy drinks hard liquor here and there throughout the pregnancy and doesn't bother with even the smallest and most routine prenatal care. Not to mention, Annie is supposed to love and care for her grandson — she thinks he'll be her son, after all— and yet she offers Daisy alcohol, doesn't give her prenatal vitamins, etc. Wouldn't she be super anal about her health and things that'd make her pregnancy high-risk, all things considered?
The ending was very convenient and plot twists, as mentioned before, were incredibly obvious. I'm not sure if I'm convinced at all.
All that being said, it wasn't that bad of a read. Went by easy and quick enough, for sure. As long as you're not looking for a carefully planned and plotted book with plot twists that'll knock you off your feet, I think this is okay.
zarlina's review against another edition
5.0
Really enjoyed this one. It had enough mystery to keep me interested without feeling over the top or too unrealistic when it was all tied together in the end, and even though I saw it all coming (I'm so rarely surprised by twists nowadays that it's no surprise I had it figured out before it was actually revealed) I still liked the way it all just made sense. No over the top crazy, no bizarre twist, no random person suddenly showing up and being behind it all. Everything just worked, and that's so rare nowadays.
Really good book. Highly recommended.
Really good book. Highly recommended.
tatterededges's review
1.0
This book is long winded and boring. Told through “three” women who essentially moan relentlessly about the same stuff page after page until the book ends.
Annie - daisy took away my son blah blah blah
Gracie - I can’t have kids boo hoo
Daisy - my friend died so I’ll just stay in bed forever.
It was bleeding obvious from the very start that Annie was the villain, that she was Grace and that she’d done something to Ben.
Ben called Daisy twice a day the first time he went away and then didn’t contact her at all the second time and that didn’t raise any alarm bells for her? She thought her husband had left her so she continues to live with his mother who clearly deranged! She doesn’t have a single other friend in the world? Really?
I hate these books where the characters are 2 dimensional and don’t seem to be able to see that which couldn’t be more obvious if it was written in a large neon sign.
And then it all just magically works out and they all live happily ever after. A dog walker see the fire and calls emergency services. Patrick suddenly turns up Justin the Nick of time.
What annoyed me the most is that the author bored the shit out of me for most of the book with the mundane minutiae of Annie and Daisy pottering about the house for months, Annie drugging Daisy and moaning, Daisy stoned off her ass and moaning and then just as something interesting was finally happening, the author skipped over it all and ended the book.
Annie - daisy took away my son blah blah blah
Gracie - I can’t have kids boo hoo
Daisy - my friend died so I’ll just stay in bed forever.
It was bleeding obvious from the very start that Annie was the villain, that she was Grace and that she’d done something to Ben.
Ben called Daisy twice a day the first time he went away and then didn’t contact her at all the second time and that didn’t raise any alarm bells for her? She thought her husband had left her so she continues to live with his mother who clearly deranged! She doesn’t have a single other friend in the world? Really?
I hate these books where the characters are 2 dimensional and don’t seem to be able to see that which couldn’t be more obvious if it was written in a large neon sign.
And then it all just magically works out and they all live happily ever after. A dog walker see the fire and calls emergency services. Patrick suddenly turns up Justin the Nick of time.
What annoyed me the most is that the author bored the shit out of me for most of the book with the mundane minutiae of Annie and Daisy pottering about the house for months, Annie drugging Daisy and moaning, Daisy stoned off her ass and moaning and then just as something interesting was finally happening, the author skipped over it all and ended the book.
sharesb's review
3.0
Whipped through this book on kindle in one evening. The story was extremely predictable minus the part about where Ben disappeared to but, yet, it flowed well and held my attention. Not extremely well written - a few grammatical errors made me wince but I was invested. I wish the ending wasn’t so rushed and had a few more “what happened after” storyline endings.
It was okay though.
It was okay though.