Reviews tagging 'Blood'

You'd Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace

23 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

5.0

Claire sees people as ghosts before they die. That’s how she knows it’s time for her to kill them. Claire has been getting away with murder (literally) for years, but now, someone knows her secret…

I absolutely loved every page of this book. Never has a serial killer been funnier! Claire quickly became one of my favorite book characters of all time. I don’t know that you’re supposed to love a serial-killing sociopath, but in Claire’s defense, they were bad people! …mostly 👀 

I had no idea how this book was going to end! Wallace did a fantastic job of not revealing too much too early so you didn’t figure it all out before Claire did and the book was gripping the whole way through. 

If you love a thriller and deadpan British humor, this is the book for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Dementia, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Torture, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

literelli's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Kidnapping

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Vomit

Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, and Racism

jenn_reads's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Kidnapping

elder abuse

beate251's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Claire is a serial killer and has been for a long time. There is deep seated childhood trauma through a mean, neglectful mother and an overindulgent father.

When her beloved Dad dies, she finds herself in a bereavement group with a handful of weird characters bemoaning the loss of a loved one. There are Jemma, Christiana, Evelyn,  Welshman and Weird Little Man because Claire doesn't bother learning the names of people she isn't really interested in.

Her life begins to unravel when she kills Lucas, a man who overlooked her for an art prize or something and then Jemma from her bereavement group visits her at home and tells her that she and him were blackmailing people and she saw him disappear into her house and never come out.

The plot is way too complicated for me to detail here but it involves murders, planned murders, Jemma's sister Helen and regular visits to a posh care home.

Claire's acerbic inner commentary is hilarious. She knows she is not like other people. She constantly refers to how ordinary people would react or what they would say. The first person POV works really well to show what a sociopath she is. The flashbacks to her childhood are illuminating and disturbing in equal measures.

The book is darkly funny but also unsettling as there is no remorse or character development for Claire. She's simply too damaged to ever be normal again so the only questions are, will she be found out and will we want her to be?

The cover reminds me a lot of Eat Slay Love by Julie Mae Cohen, whereas the title reminds me a lot of I Bet You'd Look Good in a Coffin by Katy Brent, both authors I love. I'm usually a fan of female serial killers in books but Claire is a bit too unhinged for me, killing men and women alike for the slightest transgressions.

It was nevertheless a well-written intriguing, tense read with a lot of twists and turns that made the book fun. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism

evvyyreads_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious relaxing tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Blood, Dementia, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content and Vomit

elizabethbest's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

sn0w0's review against another edition

dark funny informative lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

The UK specific racism was highly informative. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ashleyj_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Torture, and Stalking

ninahuynh'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The main reason why this is not a 5/5 stars even though I enjoyed the book is that

there is all this build up to Claire setting up the perfect revenge kill for Deb and Vampire Smoker/Gary yet nothing happens with it and instead, they are taken to the court system for trial. THAT felt anti-climatic and out of character for her... unless she is planning on offing them later somehow when they are inside..??

It was interesting to feel sympathy for her and root for her as she is mowing down all these people, yet it gives a comforting relief when the ugly characters get the hammer to the head (figuratively-and literally for some-).

I wonder if we got a chapter with the pov of the dad, like an epilogue or something,  what his thoughts on Claire would be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail