Ray
This was a light grief, emotional story and I wasn't expecting to cry at the end at all.
I didn't connect to the characters very much, but still enjoyed the book anyway. I thought the pace was fine.
The magical elements of the book made it unique but extremely unsatisfying because we never get real answers about how it was possible to be calling dead people.
People do experience grief in many different ways, so yes, sometimes Julie was a little bit annoying, but like I said, overall I didn't mind.
Nothing about this book kept my attention. Yes, there's smut but nothing about it excited me.
I found their conversations really cringeworthy, “Um..... I think..... you have been.... avoiding me...? After.... You know.....”
“No...... I..... okay i kinda was....”
Literally half the book proceeds like that.
Maybe the whole stammering and pausing a billion times would have worked in a movie, but it didn't work in the book.
Not sure if this is a spoiler but I'll cover it anyway There's a whole situation with an aunt who wants custody of Aiden's daughter Sophie, and our FMC keeps defending Aiden that JUST because he is her biological dad. And everytime i read it, it just didn't sit right with me. There are so many times that biological parents are not suited to take care of their children. Given that FMC talks about her shitty parents a lot.
Anyways, I don't even know why i picked this up.
I have to say, i would not consider this a horror , much less a thriller. Mystery maybe. Definitely not what i thought it was going into it.
Doesn't mean i didn't like it tho.
This story has a lot of magical realism, i think that's the tag this should have. I wouldn't call it dark or disturbing in any way, it's just unique and fascinating. A story of not fitting in, if you have read Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, the protagonist reminded me of this book.
Knowing all this, if you're interested, go ahead. It's pretty good
Solid, engaging read, kept me curious the whole time but slow paced for my liking.
Not a super twisty dramatic kind of thriller which I do appreciate reading every once in a while. Characters are intentionally unlikeable, atleast i think so.
I see the hype for this is totally well deserved.
This story is so much more than a romance, it's about friendships, and growing up, and branching out and being afraid of change.
It's raw, it's vulnerable it's so REAL.
Goosebumps.
Wow I have finally read this, and i would say it definitely lives up to the hype.
It's such a bingeable, fast paced book. I didn't realise the time passing sort of book. It's very well written in a way to pull you in.
I loved the character development of Junie. I love how real she feels.
The author described this book as a horror story about loneliness and that's the best way to describe it. I love reading stories that are very short ranged, quiet, tight spaced. you're in the protagonist's mind, slowly watching her becoming more and more insane. It's very entertaining.
I was shocked by the brutal honesty of the book. About the publishing industry and about fame.
And of course the slightly ambiguous ending, I love how this wrapped up. Overall I had an amazing time with this book. totally recommend.
Wildly entertaining book.
It literally felt like a conversation with a “cool nerd” which is literally my favourite thing to do.
Everything brought up in this book was relevant, fresh and so, so feminist.
I loved it.
This is just personal opinion but I'm not a fan of monster smut as I've come to realise as I've finished this book.
Also the format of short stories didn't connect with me, i definitely like Nyla's 600 page books more where she takes more time to build the connection between the characters.
The first half of this book I was so sure I was gonna end up with a 1 or 2 star rating at the most. The writing was just so sloppy. The author said she's never written a book this fast, and it really does feel rushed. Their chemistry at the beginning felt silly and ridiculous.
The ending felt a little bit redeeming, the family characters slowly grew on me I guess. I think Whit was a character with lots of potential, but didn't quite reach there.
Nevertheless this was still a fun, quick romance for the moment.
you know in some movies there's like this somber moment where the protagonists are sitting down, back against the wall, looking at the ceiling, it's pin drop silence and then one of them blurts out something extremely vulnerable like “my brother killed himself when i was 10 and it really changed my life” or something, that's what this entire book reads like to me.
i know i'm in no place to judge the journeys that the characters take and the author makes it very clear but from a reader's standpoint, it felt like we were going round and round the same conversation in different ways. i just wish the story moved forward instead of drawing everything out.
Also the dynamic with having both broken characters (instead of having one broken and the other trying to fix him) was interesting to see, they're both toxic and push each other away.
Anyway just know going in that this is more of an emotional story than a romance.
I feel like Lucinda Berry has the perfect formula to make me happy with a thriller. A steady pace, characters built with depth, lots of plot twists in between and slightly ambiguous and weird endings. Ive come to enjoy looking forward to how she's gonna end her books.
As usual I was emotionally invested in the characters from the start.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy the cult thriller because it's a widely disliked trope that I've never bothered to try out but i really did enjoy reading it.
I loved the way this explored how each person reacted in this scenario, the mom who's been so thoroughly brainwashed, the daughter reuniting with the mom she thought was long gone, the dad who is still madly in love with his wife who went missing a decade ago, and his new wife who's seeing where she fits into all of this
Overall another great thriller experience.
What a mindfuck of a book. So well executed. Fast paced, not a single second was boring. I could have never predicted that plot twist! It's also confusing and open ended enough to make me think about it and draw my own conclusions too.
Nothing about this stood out for me. In my opinion it dragged out further than it had to, and overall didn't hold my interest.
Dear Lord this book was such a wild ride.
I can see why this didn't work for a lot of people, because this is very dark, the romance is incredibly toxic (kinda reminds me of Hardin and Tessa with the hot and cold if you know what I'm saying), the writing is honestly pretty mid, lots of typos (would've benefitted from a good editor), and so many of the plot points straight up make no sense. I have so many unanswered questions.
But you know what? I still enjoyed this for the ride, the craziness of the plot and the characters, and I've never read a book with such amazing F/F spice. This was my first time reading a sapphic book that wasn't cutesy and YA, although I have read other straight dark romances.
I'd say give it a shot if you're okay with indie dark romances!
The angst.
The emotion.
The tension.
The SLOW BURN.
I just ravaged this in one sitting and I don't know what to do now
I was not expecting to love this so much, I literally finished this in like, half an hour, giggling the entire time because this is the weirdest thing I've EVER read, lmao.
I'm never looking at pigs the same way again that's for sure.
Same as horses, and cows but for different reasons
I think there's such a fine line with making meaningful commentary while also being entertaining and funny, and the author does it so effortlessly in this book. I was absolutely laughing out loud at so many points but also i cannot even fathom what those low points must have felt like.
An absolute must read, even if you're someone who knows nothing about medicine.
There is such beauty in the way that she expresses pain, this is a heartbreakingly beautiful poetry collection.
The whole plot was kind of fun and intriguing. And I did enjoy this book overall. And the isolation was a nice setting.
However, the characters kind of fell flat for me. Alex and Wren had a very strange relationship, and I didn't know if I wanted to be rooting for them or not.
There was maybe 1 or 2 plot twists but overall I would say this didn't live up to the hype ive heard about it.
Why, is it so bad to die?
This was so eloquently disturbing. It's that kind of book. Slow, creeping, plotless exploration into the minds of 3 people whose lives are interconnected. 3 very different kinds of madness. Very psychologically disquieting.
This is probably not for everyone, but if you like weird, trippy, open-ended horror you might also like this one. This book will not give you answers but will make you think about them.