Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Collective by Alison Gaylin

11 reviews

klandry98's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Rape, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

teah_jilly's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Rape

micaelamariem's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.5

This was a disappointing read. I had heard good things about it and it had such an interesting premise--mothers getting revenge. But the one thing I couldn't push past--and forgive the kindergarten language here--was how stupid the main character was. I get that for part of it, she was probably just in denial, but denial can only go so far. I don't expect main characters to make all the right decisions but oh my goodness, it seemed like the author expected us to be as dumb as the mc! Aside from one plot twist, the book was predictable and it was lacking in depth. I was expecting there to be some lesson on how to cope with grief or how to avoid becoming a monster when facing other monsters. But there was no lesson, no moral. The theme seemed to be that everyone sucks and nothing gets better. Also, the ending was just wholly unsatisfying. 
I will say however, in the beginning the themes of grief and loss were interesting and gave me hope to see that grow (too bad that hope was misplaced), the one plot twist had me lurching, and I liked the ties to Greek mythology

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cancer and Racism

alexisgarcia's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i liked this book a lot until the plot twist and ending. the plot twist was not what i expected and felt a little misleading and anticlimactic. if not for that i think i would’ve enjoyed this much more. otherwise, i really liked the concept and the relationships between the characters! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

msennflinn's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence

carrasreadsandthings's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

I've never read a Thriller before and I'm glad this was my first. Boy were there a lot of plot twists! I loved it and my head is spinning!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lovelymisanthrope's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I selected this novel as my book of the month pick last year, but I kept putting off reading it for no other reason than I kept finding books that interested me more. When I finally picked this up, I could not put it down until I saw how everything played out. 
This novel follows a grieving mother, Camille Gardner, trying to seek justice for her deceased daughter. Five years ago, Camille's high school age daughter was found alone in the woods, and she unfortunately died shortly after. The lead suspect was a charismatic college student who claims the relationship was consensual and he had no part in the young girl's death. To Camille's horror, the man gets to live his life, and thrive, while she is decimated by her loss. In her depths of dismay, she stumbles across a group of grieving mothers who connect on the dark web and spill their darkest thoughts of revenge against those who have taken their children from them too soon. Camille quickly finds herself in a scheme of revenge against all the bad people who have hurt their children. 
I thought this book was going to be a pretty straight forward case of heartbroken mothers who are seeking vigilante vengeance however, that is not the case. This novel has many twists and turns that I did not see coming. Everything, every action, every character, is connected in this grand scheme of revenge that I did not begin to piece together until I was almost at the end. Camille was such an interesting character to read from because she does not come across as this harden criminal that you would suspect to be involved in revenge, but losing her daughter changed her. I do think the ending is very polarizing. I can see why some people would hate it, and it would ruin the book for them. I personally really enjoyed the ending and I thought it was poetic and full circle. The epilogue is where the book started to lose me a little bit, but I still enjoyed my time with this book immensely!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Terminal illness and Pregnancy

kyrstin_p1989's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

What a ride! This book was such a whirlwind. I definitely did not expect the ending. It was mysterious, sad, and full of suspense. The premise of the book was new and different from most mystery/thrillers. I can imagine this scenario being real even as it seems so unrealistic. I can’t wait to read more by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kimveach's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This twisty story was a quick read.  I was surprised by the ending, which is always a bonus for a thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

aryn_back's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood