Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

28 reviews

rafiniert's review against another edition

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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


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likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

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

3.5

The concept of this book: an author becomes so infuriated by a one star review that he tracks down the review to murder her, sounded too fun to pass up. And thankfully, I enjoyed this book a lot.

The first 50% of this book was incredible. I was thoroughly creeped out and was having a great time coming up with theories about what the twists would be. And even when many of my theories were proven right, they were done in such a way that left me invested in the story and frequently wanting to throw my e-reader across the room.

The weak points for me were after the halfway mark. While the book was engaging all the way through, it sometimes became frustrating to see what was happening way before some of the characters did. The main twist involving the heroine’s past also made it difficult to sympathize with her the way I would have like to as a reader. And there was also a very very brief, seemingly last-minute decision to include an explanation/excuse of mental illness concerning the killer that left a bad taste in my mouth. These things brought this down from a 4 to a 3.5 for me.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. I couldn’t put it down and I was a little sad when it was over. Love the premise, mostly love the story. Going to sleep with my lights on now!

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collinsd's review against another edition

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

4.0


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chasingpages1's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

3.25


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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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4.5

 Finished reading: August 7th 2023


"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. 

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rachwilken's review against another edition

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

4.75


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bekah1210's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5


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emharris's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.0


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thesonnetsilence's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I typically don't read thrillers, but I was happy I picked this one up. I couldn't put it down! I feel H.G. Kane was a refreshing and unique antagonist, and he was unlike anything I expected going into this book. I also think the emphasis on grief was very powerful, and I shed quite a few tears toward the end. There were twists and turns, and although I  did predict a couple of the major plot points, how we got there was filled with twists and turns that I wasn't expecting! 

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kunthearelinski's review against another edition

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

4.0


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