My top thoughts:
This is like a car wreck you can’t turn away from. Whereas the first book saw a young girl fighting deep depression and truly horrible things happening to her, this book is the birth of a serial killer. That part honestly didn’t bother me – it’s teenage Dexter. But the sex – we’re talking fade to black, but orgies – it was a bit much for me. I think it’s that they are teens and we’re still observing them in high school.
So yeah, we’re observing a true sociopath be born and it’s disturbing. Also disturbing is the weird contrast with her friend Mattie, a devout Christian who has like a prophetic sense or something. The frequent biblical references, along with Christian pop music allusions feels so weird in this setting. Like the religious season of Dexter actually.
It’s also lost the mystery component, which I did miss. I liked that the first book had a major unexpected twist that this one kind of lacked.
Who I think would like it:
I still think you’d like it if you enjoyed Dexter, but only if you also really like YA. Despite the very mature themes, there is a very teenage element to it. Not only does it up the disturbing factor, but it takes you to high school.
I know it seems like I keep saying “disturbing,” but let me clarify – I liked this book. I think I also described Dexter as disturbing, all while binge watching the entire show in like 3 weeks. So yeah, disturbing is not necessarily a bad thing. I’ll call it “delightfully disturbing” LOL!
Narrator thoughts:
I’m still really enjoying the narrator, Michelle Sparks. I think she does a great job with the voices. I’m looking forward to more from her.
Berls reviews Controlling Cosette and says it's delightfully disturbing. 3.5/5 stars #audio #review Share on X
Um, wow. Disturbing seems to describe this one pretty well. It sounds like some graphic content for YA (even if the sex scenes are off the page). But I can definitely see this finding an audience with those that like their YA with an edge.