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rjsthumbelina's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
inamerata's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
4.5
The only me is me, are you sure the only you is you?
Legit, a lot of fun. I enjoyed the messy characters and their batshit power plays for control -- both Tasmin/Lachlan, and Tasmin/Prime. The way Tasmin's growing paranoia mirrors the city/her basement's physical descent was great, and just all the ways lies/truth/control/sense of self are explored. There were soo many good conversations and I loved the title's source.
The ending was somewhat abrupt and I was left with some questions, although leaving them unanswered feels appropriate. Overall, a fun read, especially with the bestie.
Legit, a lot of fun. I enjoyed the messy characters and their batshit power plays for control -- both Tasmin/Lachlan, and Tasmin/Prime. The way Tasmin's growing paranoia mirrors the city/her basement's physical descent was great, and just all the ways lies/truth/control/sense of self are explored. There were soo many good conversations and I loved the title's source.
The ending was somewhat abrupt and I was left with some questions, although leaving them unanswered feels appropriate. Overall, a fun read, especially with the bestie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Gore and Toxic relationship
Minor: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts
Characters experience memory loss, sometimes worsened by gaslighting. A character has agoraphobia and has panic attacks. A character loses an eye and the injury is described in some detail. There is amateur "surgery" donekezemu's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rosesofthespring's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
acaciatree's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kagedbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Last to Leave the Room
Last to Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling
This book was weird, for me it wasn’t a good weird. I’m not sure why it had elements that I should’ve liked such as doppelgängers, alternate realities, and liminal spaces.
This is essentially a sci-fi horror about a city that is sinking and research scientist, Tamsin Rivers, is tasked with finding out why it’s sinking starts to realize the dimensions of her own basement aren’t adding up.
She starts to become obsessed with distortions in her measurements, and one day discovers a door that was not in her basement before. Out of this door comes her elseworld double and she is everything Tamsin isn’t.
Being a scientist she starts to study this double and things escalate from there.
Basically you get sucked down this rabbit hole for several hundred pages leading to a rather lackluster ending.
Honestly I think this book had a good story in it but got distracted from itself.
I listened to this one audio which was by Xe Sands and I don’t really think this a narrator I vibe with at least in this story she felt stiff to me.
Has anyone read this that can change my mind?
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book early. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review
bridge_books's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
aardwyrm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Exactly what you expect from Starling, a severe, maladjusted lesbian getting scared and increasingly deranged for a few hundred pages. The parts that work are very good at being spooky. The story takes a long, long time to get engaging, and a lot of stuff doesn't go anywhere, not in an ambiguous horror kind of way but an oops forgot this thread kind of way. And the ending is kind of a whiff but really good endings are especially hard on this subgenre. There's a great book inside this pretty okay book but it needs a little excavation.
nadiajohnsonbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25