Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

77 reviews

caitlin17's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bronzel's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

mamaofperfectpayton'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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

lighterthaneyre's review against another edition

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

2.5

A real nice sense of tension was built. The trickle feeding of information to the reader was a bit heavy handed (ex: one POV referring to the victim exclusively as 'the guest' to obfuscate who died), but the slow characterization build worked well. Less impressed by the build of the myster itself - lots of mood, little in the way of clues.

Honestly annoying that the flaws and conflicts between the characters wasn't the spark of the crime. It doesn't count as red herrings if Everything is a red herring and the real enemy was communism personality disorders all along

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Stalking, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Gore, and Grief

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

tanacef's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Infertility, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

shelb4117's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit

chris_reads's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

With the wintry isolated setting, a tense party of old friends, and toxic female friendships, I was reminded a lot of Ruth Ware's In a Dark, Dark Wood. I preferred this one. Didn't love it though.

I liked the plot structure. I really like dual timelines, and the decision to withhold the victim's identity. And how so many characters felt like legitimate suspects. If you want a book with likeable characters, keep looking. I think this is the aspect of the genre that stops me from truly loving it. The mystery keeps me reading, but I never get all that invested in the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Vomit, and Classism

moyarb's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.25

I did love the setting and how isolated it felt. It set the mood and the last 20 chapters or so were enjoyable. Unfortunately, this was too slow for me (It's 60 chapters plus an epilogue!), but I think if I didn't go in expecting a whodunnit and seeing the reviews on the back cover comparing it to Agatha Christie, I probably would've enjoyed it more. This wasn't a murder mystery, but more like a domestic drama with some suspense sprinkled at the end. The characters were either very unlikable or boring, and the ending wasn't satisfying. Of the trope about a group of longtime friends who secretly hate each other, this was the weakest. 

Earlier this year, I read The Paris Apartment which is Lucy Foley's most recent work and the first book of hers I read.  I loved The Paris Apartment, but having read The Hunting Party and the preview of The Guest List, Foley's mysteries are pretty much the same format: Multiple POVs set back and forth in time during the present and the time leading up to the present and I suppose it all depends on execution because I think The Paris Apartment was more engaging and had a good blend of the drama and the mystery. At least it showed that Foley improved on her formula. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Outing

rmperash's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War

Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Outing, and Sexual harassment