bella613's Reviews (551)

I loved everything about this

Very much enjoyed. 
Entertaining and fun, and I loved Dan Stevens as narrator. 
It felt a little cliche, but then I remembered it's only seen as a common trope because Agatha Christie popularized it :)
I liked the end a lot. The only thing that may have made it more enjoyable would be getting to know the characters a little more. Even after finishing I don't feel like I really knew or cared all that much about any of them. But I think the point of this type of story is more the mystery than the characters themselves.

I want to read all of King's books and I have a feeling this will not be one of my favorite of his works. It was interesting, and very well written, but it felt a little slow in the middle. I was fascinated at the beginning, and then gradually got less impressed. There was definite horror but it wasn't scary, just extremely disturbing. Maybe it didn't hit me as deep since I do not have children, but it felt too supernatural to really connect for me. I like King's raw and realistic scary side more. I'd recommend it if you like horror genre. 

Sad. That's the only way I can describe this. There's really not a lot to it, yet it feels like so much. 

I LOVED the first 3/4 of the book. 
The twist was kinda meh and didn't live up to the potential it had.

Honestly I found this book randomly on Libby and after reading the description I thought it was the book that inspired the movie, A Simple Favor. I had watched that when it first came out a few years ago and besides the fact that there were no children mentioned this seemed similar and made a big deal of mentioning those words. 

After starting, it was pretty obvious that it has nothing to do with that but it was really good anyway and had me hooked from the first few minutes. It was a little predictable but still intriguing because the author does a great job creating atmosphere. The choices made by the main character get progressively more stupid as the book goes on. But up until

she steals a gun and willingly follows a stranger to an unknown (clearly dangerous and high up) second location with absolutely zero reason other than blind curiosity AND doesn't tell anyone where she's going,

its easy to support her silly decisions. That whole scene at the climax was pretty disappointing to me but not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the book up until then.
The last bit leading up to the end was not believable and felt off character, but I did like the very end. 
I'd definitely recommend as a fun little mystery but dont go into it with too much expectation :)

This was... difficult to read.
I knew this going in but I don't think I was prepared for it to be quite so much. It was shocking and at the same time not unusual (devastatingingly, nothing that happened felt unreal)
I like the unnerving feeling of the horror genre, but this is a bit different and I would definitely not recommend if you feel triggered when reading about certain topics. It was not an enjoyable read but I'd still say it was a good experience and a work of art. I felt strong second hand violation and disgust.

I have been vegan and vegetarian and more recently pescatarian and also have a weird relationship with food and putting things in my body. I wonder how differently I took this book than the average person (although can I really say my experience with food is not average?)
This book is not really about food or vegetarianism at all. It is incredibly personal and uncomfortable and thought provoking. There is hardly a moment of kindness or compassion ever shown to the main character, even in the way that the book is told from multiple perspectives and still not her own. No one listens to her about her dream and no one seems to truly see her, only what they want her to be in relation to themselves. 

This is one that's gonna be uncomfortably in my brain for a long time.

I was waiting for the entire book for him to get fired and lose his medical license for breaking so many hipaa laws 🙄 
Anyway there was no plot and all they liked about each other was that they got along and were both pretty. 

Idk I'm just really not feeling this. 
Maybe I'll pick it up again someday but for now I'll leave it here. 

I liked the story and was actually surprised by the twist, which doesn't happen often. (This might just be because I listened at the end of a shift and was too tired to see it coming lol, looking back it was pretty obvious).
I didn't like any of the characters

and it was clear from the beginning that Michael is not a good person and does not love his family.

Beth's voice was the only narrator I liked out of the four in the audiobook version. Having multiple perspectives didn't really add to the book--

if anything it pointed the reader to suspect Michael since there were fewest chapters in his perspective and no real plot movement from his pov.

The story felt like it was moving pretty slowly but I think that was the effect of the writing style, not the actual pacing. 

It's clear we (readers) are supposed to empathize with the parents and see that they hid everything out of love, but that is NOT love and they are complicit in Emma's murder case. I found it incredibly sad that they pretty much ignored their daughters in favor of Michael and justified it by saying it was for their protection. The way the whole family treated Nicole was also devastating.

It's a story about some pretty awful decisions made by not great people, but that doesn't make it a bad story. I liked the atmosphere, and the on-the-nose title.