Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

8 reviews

lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

1.5

The premise of The Quarry Girls was interesting, but the execution fell short.

Set in 1977, the story was supposed to be about a normal summer until girls started to go missing. As a fan of mystery thrillers, I was drawn to this book, but ultimately didn't enjoy it.

The villains were easy to guess and the writing became both repetitive and convoluted. The author relied too heavily on reminding readers that men are untrustworthy and that one should always be on guard. Additionally, the backstory was often provided in a way that interrupted the present scene, leaving the reader feeling lost.

The writing tried too hard to capture a Western vibe, which was distracting and made it seem like the author was trying too hard. However, the tone was well done and set the atmosphere effectively.

 Overall, I gave The Quarry Girls 1.5 stars (0.5 for the interesting premise and 1.0 for the successful tone). I would only recommend it to readers who are fans of mystery thrillers and have run out of other books to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pedophilia, Infidelity, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

ghoulpilotfinn's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

The Quarry Girls is about "the sprint from girl to woman", about how the second girls hit puberty they are in danger, about objectification, about r*pe culture, about patriarchy. It's also inspired by the serial killings that happened in Lourey's hometown in the 70s.

Very heavy subjects in this book. TWs for (a lot of) SA, r*pe (offscreen), p*dophilia, kidnapping, violence towards women and children, police.

That being said, this book is a page-turner. I probably would've finished it in a day if life permitted. The characters are so well written, every one of them having so much depth to them. The atmosphere building is impeccable. The suspense made it hard to set the book down. Despite the heavy subjects, scenes and TWs, Lourey somehow manages to never take those scenes too far.

My few issues with the book:
1. The descriptions however of some of the girls went too far at times imo. Even through Heather's POV, the descriptions of the other girls, especially of her 12yo sister Junie, seemed overly sexualized and made me uncomfortable.

2. The vibe change between the resolution and conclusion of the book was so drastic, it almost felt rushed. (ending spoilers)

Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful and thankfully good ending, but going from an entire book of "you can't trust anyone, not the cops, not even your own family" to "let's trust the non-local cop" then "we're now certain everything is good and we're safe" felt almost ironic. The resolution went so fast, like Constance and Gloria making up after years of not talking then moving in together all within a few paragraphs. It felt very "Hollywood movie that needs to have a perfect happy ending or else it won't get approved" (if that makes sense). I don't know, it was at both a relief to see these girls feel safe for the first time yet disappointing because it felt unrealistic considering the rest of the story.

Conclusion: good book, don't trust cis men, know your self-defense, and fucking raise your sons right. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Grief, Child abuse, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Death, Sexual assault, Murder, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Rape, Medical content, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

jenlindeman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Murder, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Confinement, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Murder, Rape, and Chronic illness

alymahob's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

erinhanso's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Very, very dark, but the story had me hooked and I loved the Minnesota references. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Rape, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, and Stalking

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Drug use

Minor: Abandonment

raechalws's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Murder, Child death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Torture, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Grief, Abandonment, Blood, Drug use, Chronic illness, Bullying, and Misogyny

rosesofthespring's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm so happy that this was the book I started the new year with.

Jess Lourey writes with an anger that demands answers. Why are men allowed to act with violence in response to the same injuries that women are expected to swallow and smile through? Why are the hopes, futures, and very lives of girls an acceptable loss in the face of men's desires?

"Does that sound like the kind of guy who would abduct a girl?"

If your answer is no, what would it take to change it to a yes?

I didn't grow up in the 70s, when this book is set, but the echoes of a midwest girlhood resound through the decades. Parties you know you shouldn't go to. Friends pressured and stifled simultaneously, growing up way too fast. Men and boys who think you owe them something. This is an absolute powerhouse of fiction.

If I had one genuine criticism of this story, it would be that everything wraps up a little too cleanly. However, given what Lourey has been through in her life -and what she puts the reader through in her book- maybe that's a catharsis we both deserve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Gore, Murder, Kidnapping, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pedophilia

Moderate: Infidelity, Stalking, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Vomit, Domestic abuse, and Suicide

Here I'll try to expand on cases where the content is explicit, but does not take up that much page space. With regards to pedophilia:

Adult men are revealed to be coercing underage girls into sexual contact. The youngest girl we see on-page is 16, but there's evidence of girls potentially as young as 12 being in the same situation.

With regards to police brutality:

The top cop in the area is essentially trafficking girls. He's found to be using the authority of the badge to trade sexual favors for expunging juvenile offenses. While this isn't "violent" in the sense of a physical attack, it's certainly sexual brutalization.