Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

27 reviews

stilladyj's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

judassilver's review against another edition

dark funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Vomit, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, and Mass/school shootings

mj_86's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Unfortunately I guessed 90% of the twists before they were revealed. Just okay for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Mass/school shootings

a_libraryghost's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I started this book wanting a twisty but easy to read thriller after being in a reading slump, and that’s exactly what I got. In some ways it exceeded my expectations, mostly it met them and in a couple ways I was disappointed. 
As others have pointed out there are a lot of twists though despite this most of them are pretty predictable. There was one twist I was surprised it took so long to reveal because it seemed very obvious very quickly. Though I will say while I was right about almost everything, I was made to second guess my assumptions. The two major twists directly linked to Emma were the ones I didn’t see coming and definitely were the most compelling. 

In fact, Emma in general was the best part of this story. So often when reading or watching horror you do not care whether the character lives or dies, or you might want them to die for being so stupid, but I was rooting for Emma (and Laika!) the  whole time and she is really what kept me reading. 

I had two big issues with the book. One was the invincibility of the characters like

Howard is hit by a van, has his hand struck by a hammer, and is stabbed in the chest with a katana…AND CAN STILL WALK?!

and the other is the laughably stereotypically the way the villain is depicted. Like the author pulled him straight from a reddit meme
Neckbeard? ✅
Fedora? ✅ 
Literally says “I guess nice guys do finish last”? ✅ 
A FUCKING KATANA?! ✅ 

I think Adams tried to subvert it a bit and give him some more depth but it when the nice guy line came I just had to laugh and it felt a bit like I was reading something straight on reddit. 

I do agree the ending dragged on but I liked it and was pretty happy with the outcome.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Gun violence, Infertility, and Car accident

Minor: Mass/school shootings

crabcake28's review

dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this expecting a lot after reading No Exit and I wasn’t disappointed. While it didn’t exactly have the mood I was hoping it would have, I still enjoyed it immensely. The book had me in shock, heart broken, cringing, and even laughing out loud at parts. I absolutely loved the back and forth between narrators and the realization that one of which was not in anyway reliable. Definitely the kind of book I’ll reread with a whole new perspective. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Infertility, Mass/school shootings, and Stalking

death of an infant child

attempted murder of a pet

katiedesando's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mass/school shootings

laurensm_th's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

Very Taylor Adams

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Alcoholism and Abandonment

reahbee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

THE DOG IS FINE. Lest anyone dnf for fear. No promises on any of the people.

This was so much more than the suspenseful, slasher-y book I thought I was getting into (though it was that too.) A master class on how to end a story, with plenty of twists to keep you guessing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Self harm, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pandemic/Epidemic

child death

,

car accident

emory's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Domestic abuse and Mass/school shootings

rafiniert'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Sexism

Minor: Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis