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mlv97's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol
rinku's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Boarding schools and murder mysteries are two of my favorite topics in YA books, so naturally I was interested in reading One for Sorrow. Both of those elements were executed well, and the rest of the story was good, but there was not much more to it.
The story is told from two POVs: Audrey’s, the new girl, and Ivy’s, the old girl. The beginning of the story where we get to know them was already a bit cliché: Audrey arrives at the boarding school which she enters without her dad because of their bad relationship and meets the headmistress. We are introduced to Ivy as well who shares the room with Audrey. Audrey quickly learns that an unsolved murder happened at the school and that she lives in the room that was once the room of the victim. This constellation with a new and an old girl that first don’t like each other is nothing new; I’ve recently read about the exact same constellation in The Ravens. I liked the execution here a bit more though since the old girl is not too mean to the new girl like it was the case with The Ravens.
Nevertheless, I found the plot around the podcast about Lola’s death interesting. It was especially interesting to see what effects it had on the students and how distrustful they became of each other. You probably could’ve guessed who the producer was, but I didn’t. The mystery itself was okay; I guessed from the beginning that Mr Willis had something to do with it, while I was surprised that he wasn’t the murderer. It took our main characters a bit too long until they figured out that something was going on with him and Lola. I wonder though if Lola is actually dead or living in the caves that they found towards the end . It annoyed me a bit how irrational Ivy became about her teacher. It was firstly dangerous that they talked to him alone and secondly, I hated how she burned the picture and only evidence of him and Lola at the end, leading to the teacher not getting the punishment he deserves . In general, towards the end, the story became a bit too melodramatic, and the ending was weird as well.
The writing style itself was okay; it was able to portray an interesting vibe together with the boarding school setting, even though it felt like I’ve seen this one before as well (a forest surrounding the school, an old chapel etc.). What annoyed be about the writing though were the many pop-cultural references, the try-hard teenage language and the random capslocks.
I also generally liked the characters, and it was so nice to see Audrey’s and Ivy’s development and how they slowly become friends. Just like with The Ravens though, I wish we got a romance between those two. Sadly, we’re instead presented with an insta love and a teacher crush. The teacher crush was obviously terrible and it’s implied that it’s two sided, but luckily, nothing more happens. Another thing about the romances that annoyed me was the fact that it was so obvious that Theodore is Teddy but none of our characters notice this .
Besides those aspects, I liked One for Sorrow and was entertained by it. There’s still much potential for the sequel, especially around the name giving Magpie Society, so I’ll hope that we will learn more about it and figure out the mystery around Lola.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Violence and Kidnapping
gwendolyn's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was.... conflicting. The plot was good enough to keep me turning pages and pushed me to finish the book, but in the end it was all for naught because quite literally nothing is resolved. I understand this is a series, but there was literally no resolution at all here. In addition, the writing and characters felt super flat—Audrey has no personality other than that she's rich and American, and Ivy has no personality at all other than straight up mean for no good reason. The thing that really irked me though is how this book reads like neither author has never spoken to an American person in their lives. They made Audrey so stupid, and kept insisting she was confused over basic things, like what the word "tomfoolery" means and what a letter opener is. I promise, Americans aren't _that_ stupid. They also announced she was American in every other sentence, even in inner monologue, as if we'd somehow forgotten. It was almost enough to make me DNF, but, like I said, the plot and the thriller were enough to make me want to see it through.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, and Violence
annabella's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
I did just read it for some easy reading and it was mostly boring throughout particularly Audrey, and some of the plot points were so predictable. The potential paedophile, they way it was handled and the lack of consequences for him just made me feel very uncomfortable. And I’m just so frustrated that after all that reading we didn’t even find out the killer!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Blood