Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

30 reviews

jerica's review against another edition

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

4.75

This is my first time reading this author, and it seems like fans of hers find this book somewhat disappointing and boring. I, however, was not at all disappointed or bored (and am slightly concerned for those who were bored while reading this).

There is an immense amount of detail, creativity, and care that went into writing this book. The only things keeping it from a 5-star rating are 1) there was one detail I read that didn't make sense and wasn't addressed again and 2) Andy and Laura made some really dumb decisions that made me want to scream. These decisions make the characters human though. We all say stupid things and make mistakes that, in hindsight, we should have known would backfire. Although it wasn't terribly easy to relate to the characters in many ways due to the unique storyline, they were very well-developed. 

I am usually someone who can predict everything that will happen. While I did predict quite a few things in this book, there was one point where my jaw literally fell open and I verbalized my disbelief aloud. I think that a majority of readers will find this story to be a rollercoaster with surprises at every turn! I also appreciated that, although this book addresses very dark topics, it does so in a way that (at least for me) does not create a trauma reaction for the reader. 

As usual, my review is an aimless rambling. Long story short: I highly recommend this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Drug abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

madlain's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racism and Rape

Minor: Body shaming and Forced institutionalization

natalya_c14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

goblinghost_39's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

jinx_mars's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

dayingst's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer and Rape

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

dilani's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

This is the fourth book I’ve read from Karin Slaughter and she still manages to amaze me. The writing, characters, and plot always seem to suck me in. Like I’ve done before  with her other books, I teared up at certain parts. Finding out Laura’s past was rough. 

Are Slaughter’s books kinda messed up? Yes, but I keep eating it up. And I’ll continue to do so.

Also fuck Nick and Paula.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Rape

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