Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

21 reviews

alindeman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

God this book was heart wrenching. A brutal read, really. I think what was so hard about this book is knowing that this isn’t fiction, not really. I have no doubt that there are countless “mind your business” small towns like Pantown, where evil goes unchecked and everyone turns a blind eye. I also have even less doubt that there are plenty of men out there just like this book. I hope they rot in hell.
CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Alcohol, Murder, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Infidelity

Minor: Suicide

erafact's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Confinement, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Religious bigotry, and Rape

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

kotashomelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

mamadimo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, and Death

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

shyleek's review against another edition

sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

The Quarry Girls is labeled a Thriller but simply made me feel immensely sad. I didn't want to put it down and thoroughly enjoyed the read but it touched on a lot of deep stuff. 

As you piece together what has happened to the girls who have gone missing you realize the town too many secrets for these children to be bearing alone. 

A lot of potential triggers in this one but worth the read if those won't bother you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

jordan_uhden's review against another edition

dark lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Violence

smkelly1997's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Tragic. Beautiful. Beautifully tragic. There is no other way to describe this book. Heather has you rooting for her from day one as you watch her world change around her. She’s strong, brave, and terrified but willing to stand up for those she loves. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Violence

omnilegentoberski's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

What. A. Book. This one is going to stick with me for a long while. It made me angry; it made me sad; it made me fist pump in support. This is one of those books you can’t shut up about and just have to talk to people about. It’s based on some women who went missing during a time in St Cloud when there were several serial killers on the lose who murders were never solved. It’s a statement on sexualizing young women and the harm in keeping quiet about the wrongs in your community. It’s a story about growing up and realizing that the monsters in your life are much nearer and insidious than you realized. And it’s about fighting for those girls who no one seems to care about enough to go looking for. I will never be able to reread this book because I am an emotional mess now, but it was so so so well done. While the content is definitely triggering, the author is not graphic in the content (something I truly appreciated) giving you just enough information that you were aware of what had happened while leaving it vague enough that it was not trauma porn. Highly recommend this one!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Emotional abuse