Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

18 reviews

lmayfieldx's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

“‘𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬’”

🍦 first person
🍦 multiple pov
🍦 multiple timelines
🍦 similar crime
🍦 connected strangers
🍦 short chapters
🍦 fast paced

on new year’s eve in 1999 at blockbuster, four teenagers were working and attacked. only one survived. fast forward 15 years & this is happening all over again at an ice cream shop in the same town, with one person surviving…again

amid solving the latest crime, three strangers cross paths - the survivor from the blockbuster attack, the brother of the accused suspect, and fbi agent, sarah keller. how & why do their lives connect? will they be able to get to the bottom of this mystery?

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this book was really good! i loved the short chapters & how fast paced it was. it was entertaining & very attention grabbing early on in the book!

it was interesting to see how the dynamic of the connection of the three main characters unfolded. i also liked the parallels between the timeline in 1999 & present day

i did not see this ending coming, which i really enjoyed! i am pretty good at guessing the plots of mystery/thrillers, so sometimes they fall short for me in that way. this one did not!

this was my first book i’ve read by alex finlay. i have a couple of other books of his on my tbr & i’m excited to read them eventually 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Bullying, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

dodgeremerson's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

Not the worst book, but it was very predictable. I called the killer from their introduction, as well as the other deaths that we discover early on. Kind of disappointing.

Also...

I am really frustrated that the promising young brown kid was killed off. He is the only death outside of the murders, and the only death "on the page." Why is the only POC mentioned the only death? Granted, it was clear he was going to die from the moment Finlay introducedhis mother with that "take care of my boy" line. But it is still irritating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Stalking, Abortion, and Death of parent

vj_thompson's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

Wow, wow, wow. The ENDING!!!

The Night Shift is probably up there in being one of my favorite thrills. I didn’t see the ending coming at all. I did get one of the plot twists. I liked that two of the three characters had flaws that they were processing through while the whole story was playing out.

The ending was the Epilogue was the sweetest thing 💕 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicide, Abortion, and Classism

achay91's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, and Blood

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide

itshrewsbury's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Rape and Self harm

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

The identity of the killer is pretty predictable. That being noted, it still had enough twists to be a good read. Atticus’s passing was so heartbreaking

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Stalking, and Classism

detrasystem's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Self harm

bre88's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, and Classism

wonderfulxwonderful's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

biancabuysbooks's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

Alex Finlay does it again with an excellent follow-up thriller to his debut, and he has now become a must-read author for me! Also, I LOVE this cover with the neon lights!

The Night Shift was a quick read with short chapters (the best), and features dual timelines, which Finlay handled well. The first timeline, set in 1999, features four teenage girls working at a Blockbuster (throwback!) when 3/4 of them are killed. Police identify a suspect but are unable to capture him.

Fifteen years later, a similar crime happens at an ice cream shop: 4 teenage girls are working, three are killed, and one survives.

What follows is a race to catch this killer featuring a great cast of characters. We get a sharp female FBI agent and her eager assistant/sidekick, the original survivor who is now a counselor for troubled teens, the younger survivor who happens to be a troubled teen herself, and the brother of the initial suspect who eluded police for 15 years.

Finlay weaves in so many twists and turns in the hunt for the killer, along with unexpected connections between the characters! It was a page turner and I'm here for his next thriller!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicide, and Grief