Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen

10 reviews

wilwarinde's review

dark funny medium-paced

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

3.75

An enjoyable quick read, with a very vivacious heroine and nice twist on some of the other female serial killer books I’ve read. It’s funny, but also a bit of a whodunit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

peachani's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Blood, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

dawndiscusses's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Classism

lauren_reads_outside's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook

Book 2 in my roadtrip and I really enjoyed this one!! It was a touch slow in the middle and I honestly expected more of Saffy's POV and previous crimes but the latter half and ending absolutely paid off. I would love to read more of Saffy in the future and more about her previous murders (I don't really care for John tbh, but it does play into my love of books of psychopath women protecting bumbling detectives ala The Kind Worth Killing). The combination of Saffy righting wrongs via murder while also being wildly rich and uptight was very entertaining and the narrator played her voice to perfection. Definitely keeping my eye out for Eat Slay Love! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

jessiedoodah's review

dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty

aseel_reads's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

4.0

This was a fun read, just a silly little thriller that was easy to audio read

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

that_awkwardbook's review

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I usually don't write bad reviews but I think I need to clarify.  I liked the writing it was funny and witty. I also liked the main plot line but

the stal ing and the lying just didn't sit right with me. The FMC manipulated the MMC into the hole relationship and it just feels so wrong. I feel iky and really didn't like that they ended up together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

misssekundo's review

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

3.5

A fast read and a good story. Not what I was hoping it would be, though. The book turned into Jon story rather than Saffy focused. 

And I could not get over

the dog in the well scene

, that was completely unnecessary. 

Apart from that it was an enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

natashaleighton_'s review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A wickedly dark and utterly addictive thriller which follows charismatic, serial killing socialite, Saffy Huntley-Oliver, who likes to punish bad men. It’s the one thing she’s most proud of—making the world a better (and far safer) place. But it sure does get lonely, so Saffy (after some casual teasing from her younger sister) decides to find herself a boyfriend and firmly sets her sights on true crime podcaster (and longtime crush), Jonathan Desrosiers. The only real snag to her plan: he happens to help the Police catch serial killers …

I haven’t binge read a book this quickly in AGES—I absolutely loved it! Part Rom-com and part feminist revenge thriller, Julie Mae Cohen expertly delves into issues and themes (such as Pedophilia, Rape, sexual assault and domestic abuse) that are soo rage inducingly relevant it wasn’t difficult understand Saffy’s (admittedly twisted) reasons for killing. 

The opening chapters, which paint a heartbreakingly bleak backstory for Saffy, only endeared her to me more, and  (despite her unrepentant, serial killing tendencies) actually had me rooting for her, which was definitely a surprise. And her dark sense of humour and Dexter-like quest for justice only made me like her more.

Her love interest, Jon was also a really compelling character whose own moral values and desire for justice stands in direct contrast to Saffy’s. His interactions with Saffy were interesting (if a little nerve wrecking at times) though I did enjoy them. I was actually quite surprised by how much time we get with him as a character but, the mystery he’s found himself tangled up in was super intriguing and gave us a glimpse into his own personal obsessions. Also, I can’t forget his dog, Girl who was an absolute sweetheart and who’s blatant side eyeing (mostly of Saffy) was simply perfect! 

This is a dual POV story so we do alternate between Saffy and Jon’s POV (which I really enjoyed) but we also explore the struggles that being a public figure can entail, like the unhealthy and sometimes obsessive nature parasocial relationships can have, or the dangers that can arise from it — especially when said fandom revolves around unsolved murder cases and the glamorising of serial killers.

I would’ve liked to have seen a bit more of Saffy’s serial killing side, which we don’t get to explore nearly enough of,  but we get plenty of (cleverly hidden) clues and foreshadowing throughout that does sort of make up for it. I also really enjoyed the ending which was soo plot twisty. 

If you loved How To Kill Men and Get Away With It or Death of A Bookseller then you definitely don’t want to miss this—it’s phenomenal! 

Also a huge thank you to CaseyAnn and Zaffre for the physical proof

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Death of parent

ruthie_the_librarian's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I devoured this book!  It is just deliciously readable, with a sharp, smart, sociopathic female lead, a wonky kind of dog, and a crime-solving male hero podcaster.  There are bits of bodies in bin bags, several severed heads, and did I mention the dog?  Saffy makes for a complicated female lead, because you love her and are terrified of her at the same time!  She is uber-rich, sitting on boards of charities, and with a hugely disposable income that allows her to engineer whatever murdery situations she needs in order to rid the world of the bad men who have the misfortune to cross paths with her.   Her back story is sad, and helps go some way towards the liking her side of things.  But still, she is scary.  And funny.  But also scary!
I found Jon endearing, and I enjoyed all the other side characters who come in and out of the story, including some of the victims, and Saffy's little sister Susie.
There was one huge gasp out loud moment for me as I read, and I was completely gripped.  Hoping there will be more to come about Saffy at some point...

With thanks to Net Galley for my copy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child abuse