Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

3 reviews

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

I rarely read mysteries, but I am so glad I picked up this one! The emotions Isa and her three friends go through are palpable. And I greatly appreciate the fact that the women had goals, ambitions, fears, hopes, etc. that went beyond being wives and mothers, even though most of them are wives and mothers. They felt fully fleshed out, complex, and interesting. It's a great boarding school, dark academia story told from the perspective of an adult looking back on her harrowing teenage years. 

I took off one star because the ending is a bit confusing and a little ambiguous considering the amount of detail that went in the rest of the novel.

Be mindful of the trigger warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

angrybookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this book but honestly all the characters were a bit flat for me. I couldn’t stand Isa and Freya just felt like a metaphor the entire time. I did finish this book in about 2 days though because it was easy, got to the point, and was interesting at every turn. A lot of it was predictable but the few twists in the ending were pretty good. I’d recommend it for people who like mysteries. Plus it passed the bechdel test. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest

ellalafontant's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Incest, Self harm, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, and Religious bigotry