Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

14 Ways to Die by Vincent Ralph

20 reviews

josbookcorner's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

14 Ways to Die was a fun YA thriller to read. It kept me on my toes as I read about Jessica and her journey with filming her reality YouTube show.

There were a lot of twists in the story. I was surprised to find out who the Magpie Man was. It was honestly unexpected for me. 

I struggled a bit to get through this book. Don't get me wrong, it was a good story. I just wish it was executed better. 

It annoys me how the main character breaks the law because she feels she has the right to if she finds evidence. I know that sometimes in real life, cops don't do as much as they should in a case, but that  doesn't mean that a teenager should. Leave that to the real investigators. The blatant stupidity of Jessica  was aggravating. 

Also, her viewpoint of "You don't understand what I've been through" was irritating. The other victims know exactly how she feels. Almost every time someone tried sympathizing, she pushed them away. 

I wish we got to read more about the other 4 people competing to earn the full 3 months for their YouTube show. After they all decided to quit, (which was really weird by the way), they were never talked about again. If the author is going to include them, at least keep them in the storyline. imo, the author shouldn't have included them at all. 

The book also could have been a lot shorter. It dragged on and I found myself avoiding to finish it. I would've DNF'ed it, but I wanted to find out who the Magpie Man was. 

Oh, and her sudden decision of wanting to be a therapist when she grows up was corny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

annamwallace66's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mass/school shootings

itzbrianna's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

14 Ways to Die is a tense and emotional mystery where the protagonist, Jess, agrees to do a reality show in the hopes of finding her mother’s murderer.

This book has been on my btr list for awhile, and I’ve heard great things about Vincent Ralph’s work. 14 Ways to Die overall was an interesting mystery and definitely kept me intrigued despite some grievances.

This book has short and choppy chapters and this is the biggest mistake by the editing team (whoever is responsible) for this novel. A lot of the chapters could’ve been combined because they were a continuation from the previous chapter. I don’t think there was much strategy involved when it came to breaking chapters up. 

I read this alongside the audiobook (which I have to do these days) and the narrator definitely took me out of the story at times. Her voice was monotone and whiny. 

The mystery itself was the best part about this novel. And the plot hit close to home for many reasons but I still found a way to find this story enjoyable. There were many moments where I thought I knew who the killer was, but my third guess was absolutely correct. I never would’ve guessed the why though. 

If you enjoy slow paced mysteries that have an emotional storyline then you’ll enjoy this. Just beware if the audiobook. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Self harm

Minor: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

anahita_10's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child abuse

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

mysterious sad

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Child abuse

hxayys's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

At times it was really slow and just had no exciting bits, it wasn’t predictable to me but i dont really try and predict it because it ruins the experience for me, this took me approximately 3 days to read. But if you want a murder mystery that’s fairly similar to Holly Jackson’s books, I recommend this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

whewtaewoon's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Okay, overall I enjoyed this book, and full disclosure I am not this books target audience at 31. I enjoyed the main character going from a little too up her own butt to realizing other people experience bad things as well. However, a bit towards the end felt a bit jumbled and some of it was a bit "and then everyone clapped" for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Alcohol

thewizardofbooks's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

 This was a book about grief and healing with an undertone of suspense. There were some thrilling moments, but I felt that, until the end, most of them were a bit underwhelming. Character growth was the prominent theme and I would have enjoyed having a faster pace and more action. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book, what with the interesting vlogger concept, but I just wanted a little more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse

reillywills's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

 The short chapters were a bit jarring for me. I think it may have been part of why I didn’t connect with the characters much. By the end of the book, I really don’t know much about the character beyond the fact that she likes to have carrot cake on her birthday, and, of course at her mom was killed by a serial killer. The premise of the social media/vlog context was interesting. I’m not sure how they found enough of the main character’s daily life in high school to make a video reel that would realistically go viral on social media. While I had a hard time reading at first, I did get used to it. I did want to know who the serial killer was and that’s what kept my interest.

I was disappointed that the author planted seeds for a red herring pretty early on and then the murderer was someone we only met right before the book ended

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

library_of_al's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.75

I didn’t really like the start but once I got close to end I was really into it. So many plot twist. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse and Mental illness