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fawns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Pregnancy
agworek's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, and Miscarriage
marpaige's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt
burnyayhayley's review against another edition
1.5
The best characters, the ones who were the most sympathetic (Mara and Rebecca), do not get enough page space, and their stories both end incredibly ambiguously, to the point of the book feeling unfinished. The other two protagonists are unlikable and irritating and seem to chronically make terrible decisions, with little to no consequences. Every single marriage in this book is fucked up, and it creates an incredibly cynical overtone to the book (as someone who is in love and thinking about the future, man this book was a fucking bummer).
Also, there were no thrills or good reveals. I feel like given her previous book, this is marketed the same, as a thriller with plot twists, but everything is really obvious, and the ending is incredibly anti-climactic. There is no good build-up, no shifting from the main uncomfortable tension, and no happiness or solid resolution to be found on any of the pages.
Terrible stuff. Happy I finished it, but unhappy that I read it.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, and Miscarriage
cassiereadsbooks_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
lauren_shilling's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Medical content
thespinystacks's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
thatswhatshanread'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? Yes
4.75
WOW!!! An incredibly fascinating second novel from Ashley Audrain. I was immediately invested in the deep tangle of suburban domesticity between the three families at the helm of this story, and even the fourth family’s insights sprinkled throughout. Audrain commands your attention with every page, every insane detail that feels hot in your hands, like juicy but disturbing neighborhood gossip you’re only so lucky to be privy too. Like you are one of the periphery moms, whispering about only the surface of the twisted, mangled iceberg.
This is as much a novel about marriages and parent-child relationships under pressure as it is a novel of suspense. Which is to say, this isn’t exactly a thriller, but very much so an intense domestic drama that leaves you clutching at your pearls, as they say, as the characters’ lives unravel. A child in a coma, due to mysterious circumstances. His parents, his neighbors, none of them quite who they seem. Rumors everywhere. Lies as abundant as a cup full of sugar.
I throughly enjoyed this one. I loved the intensity, the explicitness, the shock, every character interwoven into another in the most unexpected ways. This is a deliciously spiraling novel that makes you think a whole lot about the lives of those acquaintances around you that may be entirely different from what you only see from the end of the driveway. Or overheard from an open window…
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abandonment, and Alcohol
jenncortes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Nothing really happened after the first chapter. Plot picked up at around 70% which is why it took me a long time to finish this book.
There’s so many characters involved but all of them had loose ends that it felt like the side characters weren’t really thought of thoroughly.
What happened to Xavier is VERY predictable too.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy
mayflower828's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical trauma