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jmdressel's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Stalking, and Pregnancy
warnie23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Child death and Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity and Mental illness
ewottrich'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
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Pregnancy, and Classism
hmetwade's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
savvy999's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse and Pregnancy
rochelleisreading's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Pregnancy
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
To panic, said T.J., was to make an enemy of the forest. To stay calm was to be its friend.
I had high hopes for this book. I saw it being recommended all over the place this summer by people whose book recommendations I typically enjoy. Plus I liked Moore’s first book, Long Bright River, so I figured I would enjoy this one too. BONUS: Reading it the week of Halloween? A slam dunk, surely.
NOPE.
To be fair, I think a lot of this was due to the fact I listened to this book instead of physically reading it. As a voracious audiobook listener, there aren’t many audiobook experiences where I will gladly admit the physical form of the book is better. This is one of those times.
Please, just pick it up. Sure, there’s a map at the beginning, but more importantly, as the book goes on, at the beginning of each chapter, it outlines where at in the story you are. There are so many timelines to keep track of and honestly, it became a little overwhelming and confusing. I relistened to so much of this book to try and figure out where I was and I finally just gave up and hoped for the best. This truly impacted my enjoyment of the book and I think I would have liked this book so much more if I actually read it.
On a separate note, for a book that was sold to me as a mystery worth reading, I found the ending of both mysteries (two siblings disappearing many years apart) to be so much of a let down. I don’t want to say too much more than that for fear of spoiling the book, but dang. Not at all what I was looking for when I signed up to read this one.
One character I really liked was Judyta (Judy). What a strong female character and a strong woman in a time when women weren’t respected for doing their jobs correctly and doing their jobs well. She also was so incredibly brave when it came to standing up for herself and her independence with her parents. I loved every single chapter I got to read where we followed Judy’s journey as an investigator looking into Barbara’s disappearance. There’s just something about strong female characters, especially set in a historical time where they aren’t seen as equal, that makes me love a book.
Fingers crossed you’ll like this book more if you physically read it. 🤞🏼
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
gwenswoons's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I will say that I somehow loved the ending, and found it so beautiful, with such a light touch — odd after this book that felt so heavy-handed to me. It was absolutely not worth it for me but I somehow was still quite enchanted by it even as I was so ready to be done. So the writing is definitely remarkable in some way, even though for me this is not going to be a writer I return to again.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
atalea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Dementia, and Pregnancy
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Fatphobia, Incest, Self harm, Blood, and Death of parent
random19379's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Gaslighting
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail