Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

10 reviews

colorwired's review against another edition

This book has an interesting premise but it moves so slowly that I found myself questioning whether I really liked it or not. 
I was also very thrown off by The Boy That Lived trope that becomes glaringly present in the first quarter. 
There are definitely parts that are dark and scary, but I somehow felt confined even though the story skips around the globe.
I didn’t finish this book because I didn’t want to do the work to plug through everything to get to the point. 
I was very disappointed because I was initially very excited about this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Trafficking

toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

It was interesting but also felt like it didn't need to be as long as it did (though how much of that is skewed by me trying to finish it by the deadline I'm not sure). I'm not sure if I will read the sequel, I thought the take on powers and school for kids with powers was somewhat unique, and I liked a lot of the characters, but again felt long to me. Maybe it would have been different reading rather than listening?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

eli_deatherage's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Felt a little slow here and there, but man it is worth it! Intriguing and mysterious world that never feels quite safe. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

clarabooksit's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation

saville08's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

 4.5
Extremely long story. Would recommend the Audiobook and do it at 1.85 speed - 2.0 as the narrator takes long breaks, and draws out the words.

Overall was almost a 5-star read, had great characters, an atmosphere, and a great plot. Miro did an excellent job of creating the atmosphere and the setting for this story. He is able to capture the reader and draw them in if you are looking for a cozy long read in a dark setting. The fight scenes are descriptive along with the monsters in this story. The plot kept you motivated and the characters were thought out perfectly.
I am not going to lie the bad guy Jacob was my favorite character as you get to see his development and his power in this novel, along with Alice who finds both of the main characters.

I would give this a shot if you are interested in long drawn-out stories that build a great dark atmosphere setting and characters that are easy to fall in love with.

Trigger Warnings include:
Death, child abuse 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Gaslighting

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Racism, Violence, Blood, and Police brutality

Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, and Stalking

unboxedjack's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

krysley's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

This is how I've been describing this book to people: it's a mashup of Harry Potter and X-Men with an historical fiction setting. Honestly, I think that's pretty accurate.

J.M. Miro creates some incredibly likeable and interesting characters, from Charlie to Alice to, yes, even Jacob Marber, as well as great atmosphere. However, the story gets bogged done with a back-and-forth timeline and an excessively long story. As an audiobook, I was just waiting for it to be over because it didn't seem to be moving along.

The narrator, Ben Onwukwe, has an absolutely beautiful baritone that fits perfectly in the time period. The issue is that he has atrocious voices for women and children, which often sound like gravely southern American accents for some reason. I got used to the weird voices, but it didn't exactly add to my enjoyment of the listening experience. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

moiralyle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

breezer's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury