Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

20 reviews

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Another expertly written thriller from Karin Slaughter, who I think may be one of my favorite authors at this point. If you’re looking for something like “Pretty Girls” this isn’t that- so I understand why people give this a lower rating but I don’t think it’s fair. This isn’t supposed to be something that keeps you guessing or something that has a lot of very surprising twists, not that there aren’t twists or surprises, but the backstory/explanation slowly unfolds through a series of thrilling events and when you get to the climax of the story you had already seen it coming and you can’t look away. 
I’m a sucker for a good true crime/cult vibe and this is the perfect mixture. The story is told between two perspectives, present day Andrea and her mother Laura in the wake of a horrific public shooting they found themselves in the middle of, and the story of Jane and a group of friends in the early 80s unwittingly recruited into a extremist activist group that spirals out of control in the wake of one of their members acting impulsively off-plan. The two stories slowly weave their way closer to each other and converge, with many twists and turns along the way. 
As with every Karin Slaughter novel, the list of trigger warnings is EXTENSIVE so be mindful before picking it up. 

Edited to add: I had no idea that the author was choosing to continue Andrea’s story in her upcoming novel, which I had already unknowingly ordered in my BOTM! Can’t wait to see how this story continues

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

Really great, exciting read. Kept me guessing and ended up being a really interesting plot and much more below th surface the more you read.

Towards the end, the authors tone while discussing domestic violence themes was a bit off putting. Though I understand that it was from the perspective of the narrator, it still threw me off. I wish that the main characters talked less about the blame for their own "choices" and more about the incredibly intense manipulation and coercion that lewd to those "choices". Are they really choices at all then?

All in all this was a great read and I will be diving into more of Karin Slaughter's books in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Medical content, and Pregnancy

bgoodbookclub's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This book was decent and I think the speed is what made it a 3.5 for me. It was super dense and hard to capture my attention because the background was so dense and thick. I am very interested to watch the Netflix show because I do believe that it will be easier to watch than to read.

I feel like if trigger/content warnings for Karin Slaughter books was a multiple choice question, the answer would be all of the above.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Murder

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Suicide, Dementia, and Pregnancy

abbs15norm's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Outing, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

_chelseachelsea'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

4.0

I really enjoyed this one. It’s been a while since I read a thriller with great PACING (so many lately have felt endlessly slow) and Pieces of Her hits a real sweet-spot. Slaughter manages to balance the tone of both timelines quite well, so neither feels boring or arduous. Tense, darkly funny, and exciting enough to make me want to seek out more of her novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This gritty thriller was worth staying up late into the night.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

klitanightfuryreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

It’s not a bad hook, just was not it for me. It moves back and forth between the past and present - the past was definitely more interesting than the future which made it much more slower and tedious 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

dannybrown59's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Overall this book was pretty good. I liked the back and forth between Laura and Andy's chapters. It really helped you understand the whole story.

It was the cult aspect that kinda lost me. I definitely see how Nick persuaded them, it just seemed to be a little odd. I don't understand what his true motivations behind it were. I guess to control people

This book really was a wild ride. I wasn't expecting a lot of what happened but it was pieced together really nicely. 

I felt so bad for Laura. It seems like she went from one bad relationship to another.

I was absolutely floored by the fact that those pictures were actually Nicks doing

I was so happy to see her stand up for herself and then you got to see Andy do the same.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. Like I was wondering why that happened. But then the flashbacks happened and I was bored and didn’t care. I felt we didn’t need all that. Also it was very plot twisty which was a bummer. Also the main character was honestly annoying and stupid. This is the least graphic of her books so if you don’t like really disturbing things this might be the now to pick up from her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Murder

2booksandacoffee's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

One of my favorite things about reading is being pulled into a story, so completely that you forget about the world going on around you. Its my escape from reality. 
Karin Slaughter is a damn queen. She is in a league all her own with her story telling capabilities, and the way she grabs you so fiercely from the first few pages and doesn't let go until you are left gasping for air after you've read the last word. 
There were several parts in this book that I actually stopped breathing. Holding my breath as I was trying to read faster to get over that precipice, but I'd just find myself climbing higher up that mountain. 

This is only my third KS book and I am here for everything.  Every brutal moment, every tender one. Every middle finger in the air, you can't touch me anymore moment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer, Rape, Torture, and Vomit