Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

58 reviews

nrogers_1030's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Pedophilia and Alcohol

_terah_hansen_'s review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

lgiery's review against another edition

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? No

3.0

A true crime inspired suspense story with elements of a coming of age story. The protagonist(s) are excellently written although there all some gaps in the writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug use and Suicide

just_me_annie_leigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Rape

ekopaskie's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Stalking, and Murder

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I believe this is my fourth Jess Lourey book and I can confidently say that she knows how to deliver and exciting mystery. One of my favorite subgenres is small town horror/thriller stories from a kids perspective that takes place in the not too distant past. That's very specific and Jess Lourey does a good job of it.

This book is about 16 year old Heather. She lives in a small town and wants to spend her summer playing drums in her band and spending time with her friends but things get crazy when a girl in town goes missing. Heather has to figure out who around her she can trust and unravel the mystery while trying to watch out for her younger sister, deal with her mom's unpredictable mental health, and struggle with the fact that her friends are growing up faster than her.

This wasn't a perfect story but I like with this authors other books, I found myself enjoying the process so much that I felt I needed to give it a pretty high rating.

Heather is a super likeable character. You can really feel the bond between her and her friends. A lot of Heathers feelings about her friends and growing up are super relatable.

The mystery unravels at a pace that makes you want to read this book in only a few sittings. 

There were some things I didn't like. I felt like the climax of the book could have been a bit more exciting - it almost felt a bit rushed. I also wanted to know a bit more about Healther's mom and the reasoning behind Heathers "accident". There was a lot of things that were hinted at, especially regarding the camps and such. But I felt like I didn't get all the answers. I also felt like the moms should have done more to protect their daughters if there was something sus going on in the town. I have questions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Excrement

A girl is kidapped, kept in a dungeon and raped over the course of about 2 weeks. The descriptions of the rape are not graphic. A girl sees her underage friend blowing a few adult guys in a dark room - we find out she's doing it for money. Our main character is made to take her shirt off and have her photo taken. There's a lot of sexual harrassment towards all the young girls in this book but none of it is too graphic.

zarakoconnor's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow. One of the twistiest thrillers I have ever read. Had an impending sense of dread the entire time. Was sort of predictable but in a way that left me empty and sad because this happens in real life. We know how these stories go because we have seen them on the news. Brilliantly written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

jadynnotsmith's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

The quarry…. Girls. Yes girls. Stupid stupid cops. Dumb dumb men cops. Cops in the 70’s EVEN WORSE. Wait small town men cops in the 70’s?! WAAh i can’t take this anymore!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

kjett1883's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, and Murder

purpledaisies's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment