Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

44 reviews

strongsun's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Bit annoying nothing came up about the dna or whatever proof it was that Alice's estate had so stevie didnt technically solve the mystery

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

letiross's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Drug use, Kidnapping, and Murder

chavborromeo's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

First of all, David is an asshole. I tried to understand him. His daddy issues, his friend died and Stevie kinda betrayed him. But what the fuck dude? His freaking mouth need to shut up. Good thing he's doing something to stop his racist father and doesn't like him.

I hate Stevie and David relationship. Its like hot and cold. So freaking annoying.

I don't how many times I said this but I really love Stevie's friend. Janelle,Nate and Vi. Vi and Janelle relationship❤

For the plot twist, I don't why I'm not satisfied. I kinda suspect Charles but Idk the revelation is not that exciting and I don't have "omg" feels? Like I didn't like how it deliver? Like its that's all? But the end scene are cute. I'm living for their friendship❤❤❤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Murder

r_lynn13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Such a good series. Everything was tied up in a believable bow. I cannot wait to read the companion books. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, and Car accident

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

This was terrible. I invested three books worth of time and money for THIS???????

Already, the culprit of the original mystery being Marsh was disappointing, not because I had predicted this from book one, but because money isn't an interesting motive!! It sucks!! And then Johnson goes and makes it the motive for the MODERN murders too???? And the murderer is a bare sketch of a character at that??? And also, it turns out Alice died of measles???? Did someone say massive cop out??? And then Stevie doesn't want to present the evidence about Alice's real parents, because that way the money stays with the school. With a PRIVATE. SCHOOL. Set up by a BILLIONAIRE. And people go on thinking Alice is missing instead of paying her respects and letting her rest. Other annoying things include: nothing actually happening in this book and a lack of tension despite the really interesting premise of being snowed in on a mountain in the middle of nowhere; David suddenly being okay with Stevie; Frankie and Eddie serving no purpose or character arc beyond hoarding evidence for future Stevie to find; and finally, the random moose motif that doesn't mean anything. The only thing saving this book from a one star is that it was borderline entertaining and creepy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Child birth, explosions, adoption, loss of a loved one (friend, aunt), illness

sankta_aleena's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

nfarrell24's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

SPOILERS

The first 75% of this book was great. The mystery was still alive and engaging, but the last 25% lost me a bit. The ending of the Ellingham case seemed too easy and quick. I felt like Charles was all of a sudden the culprit, almost out of nowhere. I also feel like the case still had so many unanswered questions, and even as good as Stevie was, there was no way she would just figure it all out like that. I’m also not entirely sure why the part where they went into the cave was necessary to the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

bookishgoob's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

this was definitely the BEST of the trilogy but as a whole the trilogy as a whole i think is 5 stars but this one is my favorite for sure. I love the relationship between all the characters and i think that Nate is autistic coded because he felt very on the spectrum to me (as someone on the spectrum) this book was so suspenseful and the dual timelines was really fun. such a good ending to the trilogy. i can’t wait to start the box in the woods and continue on in this universe with these characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

goodgraces's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicide

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Yeah, no. I'm a little disappointed, although it wasn't that different from the previous books. But it still managed to show me even less of the things I was interested in. First of all, the first half was SO boring. Nothing happened at all. And although this was also the case in the first two books, there were still interactions between the characters that I liked. There weren't even many of those here. What frustrated me the most was the way Stevie "investigated". The "clues" didn't make ANY sense and lead to nothing. And she didn't do anything? Simply stumbled upon some random things by accident, didn't really explore them, and in the end she just told everyone what had happened? 

I would have probably accepted it if I actually liked the revelations. But they were ... boring as well. I think there just wasn't enough material for a trilogy here and to stretch it like this didn't help. 

For some reason, I still enjoyed the interactions between Stevie and David. Apparently, I like to torture myself. And my favorite parts of the book were actually the flashbacks to the past. Those surprised me more than the rest trilogy.

I will probably still read the fourth book, maybe a change of scenery will help... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder