Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

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

cassiereadsbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault

kvoss93's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Murder

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

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

jeannine6's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Incest

fbzreadswhatever's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Dementia, and Outing

jesscoast's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This is my second Karen Slaughter book and I can say with confidence that if you want a complicated, twisted plot that goes all the way to the top, she's got you.

This story has it all - conspiracy, cults, cons, corruption. It starts with a bang and just keeps unraveling into spirals of back story with very long threads. It didn't lose me with too many characters or double agents though. A clear storyline unfolds and a bigger picture is drawn, and that's the skill Slaughter has mastered. 

As with Pretty Girls, I love how the female driven plots drag the women through hell and back to find out what will happen. They're all problem solvers, independent, fierce, and not without their own issues. By not playing into tropes, Slaughter keeps surprises hidden up her sleeve for those who underestimate her characters or think anyone can't turn their life around and reinvent themselves completely. The main character, Andy, was by far the least interesting character however. I won't remember her for long but I'll keep Laura and Clara and Paula in my mind.

The book is a lot to digest and I won't say that she's a genius at dialogue or being concise, but to me it's worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, and Rape

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

bygones_b_bygones's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

The first few chapters grips you with questions about what actually happened— is she an assassin? A veteran soldier? A super sports mom? 

Once you read past the first few chapters (which are quite slow paced) the tempo starts to pick up and it’s just one revelation after another.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent