Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

21 reviews

lexithelion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This book is incredible, I loved it. It was my first introduction to this author and I picked up this book on a whim before I went on vacation. It took me a very short time to finish because it was very hard to put down; I kept wanting to know what happened next. The author is very good at writing compelling characters and created a beautiful plot line. At one point it does get a little frustrating because people keep “dying” but keep coming back, and in my opinion it happens way too much and at one point I stopped believing that anyone was actually dead. But otherwise I will pick up more books from this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Grief

veronikar's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.25

This book made me realize I'm not a dog person (sometimes) bc by the fourth near-miss with Laika I was so over it, I was rooting for her d3ath, ok. A dizzying, maybe overstayed story. It was a propulsive read but I didn't care much for Emma bc she felt too surface level and I was kinda annoyed by her. And there were a lot of cringe moments here: the author intruder being a neckbeard, alt-right, Andrew Tate listening, 4chan incel caricature; Taylor Adams describing Jules hair as "Karen haircut" (?), and the damn dog stuff that kept diminishing my enjoyment but it wasn't a terrible experience and it was sorta fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

Minor: Death of parent

lowkeymarie's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Holy hell, what a ride!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

mysterious 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

2.0

i am so disappointed by this… and before i explain why, the irony of writing a negative review on a book thats plot centers around an author  hunting down a reader for leaving a bad review, is not lost on me. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

collinsd's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Self harm, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

lilifane's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

This is a surprising and unexpected book. I did not expect the scary atmosphere in the first half. I was reading it at night, before bed, alone at home... would not recommend. Or maybe I would recommend it for the goosebumps. It felt a little too similar to the plot of the book, with the protagonist alone in an isolated house at night. At least she had a dog. It doesn't happen often that I am genuinely scared while reading, but this book managed to creep me out. Then it tuned into a full on action packed slaher, and it felt like watching a movie in my mind. On the other hand, the book doesn't take itself too seriously and the dark humor made me giggle several times. There were also more twists and turns than probably good for a plot, but I really enjoyed them, didn't even try to predict anything just because of how wild the story got. And when you think you've reached the end.. there is still 20% left, and you get another ending and another and another. I enjoyed these, so it didn't drag for me. 
I have one critique, though. There is a revelation towards the end which felt misplaced and unnecessary. It felt like something too serious for the kind of story this was. And it was used for shock value and to quickly add an emotional element, which worked. But it felt cheap, unearned and again unnecessary. So I recommend you look up trigger warnings. 
The dog mentioned above suffers a lot during the plot, but don't worry, it survives, thankfully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

caidyn's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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 read this almost in one sitting. I wish I had been able to do that because it's a book that benefits from that. A very good, quick mystery, but I don't feel a need to keep it for a reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

 Another book I'm torn on rating. Some parts I found predictable and some parts irritating, but overall it was fairly well-written and entertaining. 
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! 

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Content Warnings

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