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tifflovesfandoms22's review against another edition
2.0
i understand the premises of a love story unfolding but there were just too much unneeded events. still thinking if it should be rewritten better and concentrated on one plotline
lottie1803's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
mezgerjk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
cseibs's review against another edition
medium-paced
- 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
2.0
soggygarlicknot's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
jurneewilson21's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
2.5
speedreadstagram's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to @bloomsburybooksus for a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.
I love the cover of this book and it had a lot of potential. Where it fell apart for me was, I was so confused because there were so many points of view and the chapters lacked clear headers as to who’s point of view it was. This is one of my biggest pet peeves and I think that it is not a large ask to authors. Make it clear who is speaking when you change points of view. I don’t care if you give it a chapter heading or put it in the first few lines of the paragraph, but for the love of all, please make it clear. Sometimes, it’s also important to note that less is more and we don’t need a ton of points of view to tell the story, and not all of them added to the main plot here.
But that being said this wasn’t a bad book, it just required a lot of bandwidth to consume. I really enjoyed the cult like religious backings. I love reading about cults and some of my favorite reads have been about them, so this was a lot of fun. The writing was elegant and fanciful, and I did enjoy that aspect as well. It’s a good literary mystery and the publisher says it’s a “nuanced literary novel” which I wholeheartedly agree, the mystery is not at the forefront despite the blurb making it seem so. There is a lot that this book has going for it, and I wanted to enjoy it more than I did but overall, it ended up being that I would recommend it to some people, but I would take care when doing so.
I love the cover of this book and it had a lot of potential. Where it fell apart for me was, I was so confused because there were so many points of view and the chapters lacked clear headers as to who’s point of view it was. This is one of my biggest pet peeves and I think that it is not a large ask to authors. Make it clear who is speaking when you change points of view. I don’t care if you give it a chapter heading or put it in the first few lines of the paragraph, but for the love of all, please make it clear. Sometimes, it’s also important to note that less is more and we don’t need a ton of points of view to tell the story, and not all of them added to the main plot here.
But that being said this wasn’t a bad book, it just required a lot of bandwidth to consume. I really enjoyed the cult like religious backings. I love reading about cults and some of my favorite reads have been about them, so this was a lot of fun. The writing was elegant and fanciful, and I did enjoy that aspect as well. It’s a good literary mystery and the publisher says it’s a “nuanced literary novel” which I wholeheartedly agree, the mystery is not at the forefront despite the blurb making it seem so. There is a lot that this book has going for it, and I wanted to enjoy it more than I did but overall, it ended up being that I would recommend it to some people, but I would take care when doing so.
djwiddled's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up
It took me a while to get into this book. The chapters jump from character to character, each one with their own voice, and most of them are not POVs that are revisited. But I read the last third in one sitting. By then I was invested and used to the style of the book and really enjoyed it.
It took me a while to get into this book. The chapters jump from character to character, each one with their own voice, and most of them are not POVs that are revisited. But I read the last third in one sitting. By then I was invested and used to the style of the book and really enjoyed it.
emilyinherhead's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
This is a slowly-unfolding mystery set in 2019 about the murder of a college student back in the late nineties. I’d say I liked but didn’t love it.
Every chapter is written from a different character’s point of view, which illustrates just how many people are directly affected by an act of violence like this and how the impact trickles out into the community, sometimes across a span of years. But no one’s perspective is repeated in the novel, meaning that many of the side character arcs don’t see closure, and interesting tidbits that come up in one section are simply left hanging at the end.
Someone in my book club mentioned hearing that this novel started as a short story collection, which tracks with my reading experience. In my ideal version, I would have preferred maybe four or five character’s voices; that way we’d still get the kaleidoscopic, communal feeling, but there would be more space to fully tie together all of the different narratives.
What I loved most about this book was the setting: Chapel Hill, North Carolina! Just down the road from my hometown (Durham) and a place with which I am intimately familiar. As someone who sometimes has trouble visualizing the worlds of the novels I read, I was delighted to have a mental map already drawn up in my head. I felt a thrill of recognition at each local landmark mention, especially Carrburritos, Cosmic Cantina (whose Durham location makes my all-time favorite burrito), and Pepper’s Pizza (an iconic spot that my boyfriend used to take me to circa 2004 and that sadly closed in 2011).
There’s even a UNC classroom scene where a snobby student speaks up, the narrator mentioning that he went to Durham Academy (a private local high school), and oh my gosh that shorthand was just for me. I knew some DA kids in my day, and almost all of them were just so… eye roll. Is this how New Yorkers feel reading the billions of books that are set in their city?? The familiarity! The nostalgia! What a delight.