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alexisgarcia's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
i absolutely loved No Exit by this author so i thought this had to be good. i think the premise is super interesting and different, but it fell short. while this was definitely tense and action-packed, it was almost too much. there was an absurd amount of twists and turns that weren’t executed well. it felt like the authors gun ran out of bullets so they just started throwing rocks. these twists were predictable while also feeling so unnecessary and overdone. also the ending??? what kind of hallmark/lifetime movie did this turn into at the end?
*slight spoiler****
also, if you’re an author and you’re writing a mystery or thriller and it is based around one of the main “villains” having a mental illness, just don’t???? this heavily perpetuates mental health stereotypes and stigmas, which simply aren’t true. this is so played out and just downright harmful and inaccurate.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
chasingpages1's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Mostly I found the male-narrated parts to be annoying but insightful. I think part of it was the narrator's voice, and the character himself to be annoying, but I think he was sort of modeled after INCELs.
Whereas Emma's parts are more palatable. I took her POV to be more reliable, as some things were told from both POVs but the spin of the character.
I didn't expect the final twist with Emma and what had happened in her life prior to the beach.
Overall it was a pretty good book. And I'm so glad that Laika survived!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying and Infertility
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
4.5
"Coincidences are fine in real life. But in fiction, they're bad writing."
I’ve been meaning to try his books for years now, and of course there was no way that I was going to resist the blurb of The Last Word for long. I love books with bookish angles, and what is more fascinating AND terrifying than a thriller read where an author slash killer goes after a person leaving him a one star review? And while things can be said about the plot being over the top and you definitely have to suspend your belief, I personally didn’t care because I was too busy enjoying the ride. This was exactly the dark, twisted and exhilarating read I needed! There is just something about the writing style that makes it very easy to fly through the pages, and the plot itself only increases that pace. The POVs are somehow blurred in points, and at times it takes a second before you realize who is in the spotlight; this would usually highly annoy me, but somehow in The Last Word it only added to the suspense. There are plenty of twists along the way as well, and with (at times) two contrasting POVs telling how the events happened it makes you wonder what is the real version. Again, this is usually something that would bother me, but in this case it somehow worked. Even the characters: none of them are exactly likeable, but since the main focus is on the plot and the life or death situation it's not as important. The Last Word definitely tips its toe in the horror genre though, and warnings are in place for particularly gruesome and graphic scenes as well as animal cruelty. If you think you can stomach those and like your thrillers on the dark and twisted side, I can highly recommend this story.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
bekah1210's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mass/school shootings, and Stalking
vj_thompson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infertility, Blood, and Car accident
Minor: Bullying, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
maregred's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking
Minor: Bullying and Pregnancy
greatestheights's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
More spoilers from here on out, as I bravely dare to rate and review a thriller about a murderous writer going after the bored, grieving woman who roasted his book on Amazon. I too am bored and grieving, but this is Goodreads, and I promise not to be too mean.
Anyway.
I am once again absolutely begging thriller writers to please, for the love of God, stop writing villains with mental illness. It is not the fun plot device you think it is! I've known and cared for two people who have Howard's diagnosis, and it's not a goddamn punch line. People with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of it. Too, Howard's diagnosis was a red herring. It added nothing to his character except to perpetuate a bunch of gross stereotypes.
That aside, I enjoyed a lot of things about this book. It was entertaining, creepy, full of twists, and the aforementioned (alive!) dog should have been the narrator. I also spent a ton of time rolling my eyes, sending screenshots to my best friend demanding to know how there could be so many hours left in the audiobook by the fifth time I thought it surely had to be drawing to a close, and wondering how many more times Howard was going to bisect something.
This is just a PSA to all white ladies: If you smell synthetic butter around your remote rental house and think a shadowy figure is watching you sleep, do not pass go, do not collect whatever the fuck, do not CONTINUE BLITHELY LIVING IN THE HOUSE — just leave. Also, don't play Hangman with random old men who have telescopes. Also also, how did this genius astrophysicist warrior woman not know what Hangman was?!
A BIG TW BELOW:
tw tw tw tw infant loss!!!
Idk why I keep picking up books that have surprise infant loss plotlines, but lol, I keep finding them. The detail was particularly brutal, and even though I knew it was coming, I sobbed for the last hour of this book.
Lots of other stuff to say about the plot and characters and Emma's interesting range of choices, but I've truly gone on long enough and I'm still not sure how I want to rate it. Twoish stars because...*gestures broadly*
Taylor Adams, if you're reading this, please don't murder me with a katana.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism and Bullying
steed17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Blood and Murder
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Grief
marrireadsandrambles's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infertility, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, and Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism and Bullying
The dog survives!