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debbie4824's review against another edition
4.0
Great read. Unusual story with ...
Plenty of twists to keep you immersed in the story. Good writing style, nice character development. The book switches between character viewpoints but in a way that read seamlessly. Very impressed and highly recommend this book.
Plenty of twists to keep you immersed in the story. Good writing style, nice character development. The book switches between character viewpoints but in a way that read seamlessly. Very impressed and highly recommend this book.
simplya13's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
tete256's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lmb1011's review against another edition
the writing was cringey, and i didnt like the multiple perspectives. Nothing was compelling me to move forward.
smd5687's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rainafyre's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. This was an interesting read and different than the things I've read lately. The drawback was that parts in the middle seemed to drag a bit for me, but other than that it was a decent horror novel.
suezeewit's review against another edition
5.0
Wow
Very interesting intense thriller. I wasn't sure I liked the way the story jumped around at first but by the end I didn't notice. It kept my attention and managed to fit in some surprises along the way. The monastery was fascinating.
Very interesting intense thriller. I wasn't sure I liked the way the story jumped around at first but by the end I didn't notice. It kept my attention and managed to fit in some surprises along the way. The monastery was fascinating.
moumita's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was a ride!
emmaleigh6692's review against another edition
5.0
Right at the top, I want to say that I love this book. It definitely had a few problems here and there, which I will discuss, but overall it was one of the best thrillers I've read in awhile. And interestingly enough, I actually almost gave up on it about 1/3 of the way through. It reminded me of another book I read a couple years ago(The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond) and as a result of how I felt about that book I seriously considered DNFing this one, but I'm incredibly glad I didn't. Yes it had some similar elements that I'm not a fan of generally(namely plots revolving around massive secret organizations that are committing crimes all over the world and getting away with it), but it also gave me something that The Marriage Pact didn't: characters whose fates I actually cared about. I wanted to know what happened to the people in this book and felt invested and hopeful that some of them might be able to make it out alive.
The rest of my review will contain at least some spoilers, so I'm gonna put it in a tag. This will mostly consist of the things I didn't care for in the book. A lot of them are very nitpicky, which is why I'm still giving the book 5 stars.
First, there was at least one continuity error that I picked up on. At one point, Gray mentions that while he was high the first night after Evie left, he called all of her friends and then finally her mother. A few chapters later, he claims that he had only ever called her twice, when each of the girls had been born. Fairly small detail, but it was enough to momentarily take me out of the story to go back and check his previous chapters to see if I was mistaken.
Second, I'm willing to overlook some level of stupidity in characters in mystery/suspense/thriller/horror books because it comes with the territory and if all the protagonists were geniuses, they would be pretty boring. However, at one point the stupidity reached a level that I just could not abide. After they had discovered literal dead and tortured people in the basement of the monastery, why did all the contestants still assume that the mentors were good people? I actually thought at one point that Evie and Richard might have caught on to the fact that they were in on it, but that turned out to not be the case until they were essentially slapped in the face with it.
Lastly, and this is the only complaint I had that seriously made me consider knocking off a star, is that I cannot stand when authors use mental health terminology inaccurately. Psychopathy and sociopathy are not interchangeable. In some ways they are similar, but they are still separate afflictions. I know that different characters used different words to describe the "Saviours" but I would just prefer if authors could be a bit more mindful when it comes to using stigmatized terms. Also, one of the characters claimed that "psychopathy is not regarded as a mental illness" which means they're not insane. First of all, yes psychopathy is no longer an illness on its own, but it is a symptom of more than one. Also insanity =/= mentally ill. Insanity is a legal term, not a medical one.
The rest of my review will contain at least some spoilers, so I'm gonna put it in a tag. This will mostly consist of the things I didn't care for in the book. A lot of them are very nitpicky, which is why I'm still giving the book 5 stars.
Spoiler
First, there was at least one continuity error that I picked up on. At one point, Gray mentions that while he was high the first night after Evie left, he called all of her friends and then finally her mother. A few chapters later, he claims that he had only ever called her twice, when each of the girls had been born. Fairly small detail, but it was enough to momentarily take me out of the story to go back and check his previous chapters to see if I was mistaken.
Second, I'm willing to overlook some level of stupidity in characters in mystery/suspense/thriller/horror books because it comes with the territory and if all the protagonists were geniuses, they would be pretty boring. However, at one point the stupidity reached a level that I just could not abide. After they had discovered literal dead and tortured people in the basement of the monastery, why did all the contestants still assume that the mentors were good people? I actually thought at one point that Evie and Richard might have caught on to the fact that they were in on it, but that turned out to not be the case until they were essentially slapped in the face with it.
Lastly, and this is the only complaint I had that seriously made me consider knocking off a star, is that I cannot stand when authors use mental health terminology inaccurately. Psychopathy and sociopathy are not interchangeable. In some ways they are similar, but they are still separate afflictions. I know that different characters used different words to describe the "Saviours" but I would just prefer if authors could be a bit more mindful when it comes to using stigmatized terms. Also, one of the characters claimed that "psychopathy is not regarded as a mental illness" which means they're not insane. First of all, yes psychopathy is no longer an illness on its own, but it is a symptom of more than one. Also insanity =/= mentally ill. Insanity is a legal term, not a medical one.