sam

I hadn't read the first Susan Ryeland book (I bought this one because it sounded good and was on sale, but didn't have any indications it was part of a series... oops) but I enjoyed this one! I feel like I understood everything without having read the first. I was a bit frustrated with the book-in-a-book style because it felt like a 200+ page deviation from the plot, but I actually came to enjoy it more than I expected. The ending came together well, so it's a solid mystery read.

absolutely brutal and couldn't put it down. took off a star for some gratuitously abusive descriptions but overall a very effectively disturbing horror novel!!

This is easily the best book I will never recommend to anyone. It was so real and vivid and beautifully written, but also intensely difficult to get through. The events that take place are so painful for the characters and so graphic in their description that I felt viscerally uncomfortable. While I understand they are supposed to be difficult and supposed to be painful, I also don't think it is something everyone needs to read nor should read. However, this book is so well-written and so human that it took my breath away. I read for hours on end, feeling deeply invested in the lives and traumas of these characters. Their thought processes, decisions, feelings, and actions were so thoroughly explained and described that each character felt so real. I loved this book, but it was also one of the most upsetting and depressing reading experiences. It's not an easy experience to explain.

Every one of Albom's books make me cry, including this one. It was a super quick read and definitely kept me interested! A beautiful story of family and redemption and the love that binds mothers and their children. So heartfelt and emotional!

INCREDIBLE artwork and story!! I'd never read manga before this but I will be tuning in to all of Junji Ito's work. That's a true master at work!