Just yesterday I told someone that I feel like Alice Feeney is becoming my auto-read author, but I'm not so sure anymore after this one. This is the third novel I've read by her and it is by far my least favourite. It's clear by now that Feeney loves to write about dysfunctional families and unhinged and/or cruel women, but there are just too many similarities between them to keep things fresh and interesting. It's as if she has a handful of her favourite traits and she can't help but chew them up and regurgitate them on the page once again.

The twist in this one didn't surprise me whatsoever, it was really very obvious that Daisy

was a ghost by how nobody ever interacted with her or paid any attention to what she said.

Speaking of Daisy, I think she was supposed to be a likable character, but my god, the woe is me attitude just annoyed me! I get that she had a horrible family and she was super sheltered and never allowed anywhere, but I don't want to read 200 pages of her feeling sorry for herself.

I also felt like there were too many grand philosophical statements by the MC, but they were all so cliche and repetitive and sometimes even contradictive. I think they were meant to sound really deep, but they just made me roll my eyes.

The family's lack of reaction to everyone being murdered was just odd and made everything unrealistic. Even if you hate your family, I think you would still freak out after seeing them dead one after the other.

This just didn't hit like I wanted it to.

Flew through this book. Had no idea who to trust or what to think, but I'm angry at myself for not reflecting on my hunches for a bit because I could have figured everything out way sooner. She gives plenty of clues if you pay attention to little things and THINK (unlike me). Really liked it, but can't help but compare it to Rock Paper Scissors, which was even better. It also seems like Feeney has a favourite trope where

she makes you think you're reading about one character, but it's actually another one.

Keeping my eyes peeled for this in her other books! Fool me twice and all that.

This book was a let down. It started off so strong, I loved it, but past the halfway mark I was just tired of the story. I felt like there was no character development and they were just so one-dimensional. The story didn't make sense in some parts and was awfully convenient in others. This was basically The Handmaid's Tale, but with people that eat books.

This was not what I expected at all, but I can see the draw of this author. There's a lull in the story in the first half and to be honest I considered DNFing, but something told me to keep going and I'm glad I did. This is not supposed to be a spooky story, but there were some parts that made my hair stand. The translation was really good as well.

Not a fan of the ending. For a book where the author lays all the cards on the table at the beginning, I felt it was too long. Although the author explains why she tied this book to a certain time (the covid pandemic), I didn't like it and thought it was really unnecessary.

This was one of my most anticipated reads and overall, I enjoyed it immensely. I loved learning about the Ojibwe culture, language and traditions. I loved how connected the people seemed to be with nature and their history. The mystery was rather predictable, so although I enjoyed the fast-paced nail biter of a reveal, it didn't surprise me whatsoever. The ending was a little bit bittersweet. Although I know that

Daunis and Jamie ending up together

wasn't the point of the book, I still felt a little bit disappointed. At the same time, I liked that Daunis put herself and her tribe first.

Now, to the not-so-good. Daunis was the classic pick-me-girl. The quirky girl. The girl that is not like other girls. The special one. You get it. I did not enjoy her talking shit about other women when women having each other's backs is such a huge part of the book. Calling other women puck sluts and anglerfishes, really? It was actually so bad in the beginning I started feeling bad about the money I spent on the book. Fortunately it got much better, but some of the writing was just very cringy and juvenile, such as them throwing around the word 'goon' to describe their self-proclaimed 'badassery', like immature teenagers who think they're tough gangsters.
A solid read, but I feel like the author's way of writing teenagers is very disconnected from what actual teenagers are like.

This was quite a good read. The pacing was a little slow for my personal liking, but at the same time it didn't feel like a trudge to get through. A big part of the story – the clues surviving in The Frick for more than 50 years, under rugs, behind paintings, etc., however, felt implausible. I just don't believe that nobody ever moved anything around once the house was converted into a museum. The mystery itself was interesting, but nothing mind-blowing and the reveal didn't surprise me much. 

This could have been mind-blowingly amazing. I think it had the potential to be as big as The Hunger Games. The premise is superb and most of the story is painfully spot on. There were some things that didn't make sense, considering the society they lived in, so I'd have liked some explanation as to how these things were possible. The ending was terribly rushed and I wanted a more firm conclusion. I wish it was either longer or at least a duology.