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mousereads's Reviews (2.14k)
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Andy Marino has brought us an interesting story with many layers to it. Sydney is relatable, a woman spiraling after an extremely traumatizing event. The only grounding element in her life is her son, and even that feels like it is slipping away. The memory she is slowly uncovering of the night she brutally carved the face of the burglar is jarring, and she’s not sure who to turn to.
This book is written in a bit of a fever dream style, and sometimes it was hard to follow because of it. Because the pacing is so fast, there are moment where if you blink, you’ll miss it. The chapters drop off and then start again in different places, and that makes sense the further you get in the book, however, it’s jarring for the reader. While I enjoyed the way addiction is genuinely treated like a disease, and the way it was handled in this book, the general writing style damaged the ability to truly process and appreciate it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Andy Marino has brought us an interesting story with many layers to it. Sydney is relatable, a woman spiraling after an extremely traumatizing event. The only grounding element in her life is her son, and even that feels like it is slipping away. The memory she is slowly uncovering of the night she brutally carved the face of the burglar is jarring, and she’s not sure who to turn to.
This book is written in a bit of a fever dream style, and sometimes it was hard to follow because of it. Because the pacing is so fast, there are moment where if you blink, you’ll miss it. The chapters drop off and then start again in different places, and that makes sense the further you get in the book, however, it’s jarring for the reader. While I enjoyed the way addiction is genuinely treated like a disease, and the way it was handled in this book, the general writing style damaged the ability to truly process and appreciate it.
I will obviously talk about this in the actual video, but my issue with this book is that the languaging in it has not aged well. I have re-read many books, including YA ones, and this is the first one that used phrasing that made me downright uncomfortable. The R slur is used, a WOC is called an African Princess and regularly called caramel-colored, and someone's hair is mentioned as unlikely to become "nappy". There are some things this book did well, and the plotline is decent, but there is so much to unpack here with the languaging that I was genuinely uncomfortable.
Additionally, the anti-weed rhetoric fit the time this book came out, but it made me laughed at how much it aged badly.
Additionally, the anti-weed rhetoric fit the time this book came out, but it made me laughed at how much it aged badly.
how can you slut shame everyone while also making out with three dudes regularly??? explain
The only reason I'm still reading this series is because it's laughable at how genuinely bad it is. The plot is better in this one than the others, but the amount of jokes about neurodivergent people is ridiculous. The writing is redundant, and Zoey's refusal to curse for some words, but using bitch for others, makes me want to bang my head on a desk. The use of the word "poopie" from a 17-year-old who feels "womanly" enough to sleep with her teacher (in the previous book) is...a lot to unpack here.
