Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Sundial by Catriona Ward

17 reviews

kyra_joy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I loved most of the Rob sections, and didn’t mind the Callie sections especially towards  the end the arrowod sections however I could do without. It’s definitely one of those books that keeps you guessing until the end, and has lots of cool twists. I did however find Callie a little too annoying which I think I understand why but still made some her parts hard to get through. I also found the end a bit abrupt. Definitely one to read the warnings on. But overall an enjoyable experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Torture, and Trafficking

the_book_bee's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, and Cannibalism

kermit_the_wrong's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Never really *got there*. It had potential but just fizzled out somewhere along the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Infertility, Sexual content, and Abandonment

fi_reads_books's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

alybark's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

uhtceara's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Trafficking

constellation_library's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-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? Yes

2.5

This book just was not for me, and that is okay! Horror is subjective and not for everyone.

Here are my CAWPILE ratings:

Characters--4: the characters in this novel were one of the weakest parts for me. I did not like the MC—I felt as though she was illogical and made really horrible choices. Her POV was grueling to read, and I did not connect with her or her plight whatsoever. The side characters were somewhat better, but even their motivations for things seemed flimsy at best. I wanted to root for someone, but I honestly, other than the children in the story, I did not care whether any of the adults lived or died. 

Atmosphere--6: this was the one thing that stood out to me. The atmosphere was tense, uncomfortable, and chilling. I felt the mood intensely, and was genuinely afraid for the characters, even though I didn’t really care for them. 

World-Building--6: This was another strength of the novel, specifically in relation to Sundial itself, and how the narrator describes the place. I could envision it easily in my mind’s eye, as well as the events that took place there. 

Plot--4: while this wasn’t my favorite part of the novel, a lot of the decisions made sense given the circumstances of the tale. I also really didn’t care for the ending, and that can make or break a story for me. Of the two surprises at the end, one of them was satisfying, while the other was too convenient. I can’t give more detail due to spoilers, but I had just got done praising one in time to roll my eyes at the other. 

Intrigue--4: This was so-so for me. While there were moments where I was genuinely interested and couldn’t put it down, there were things that completely took me out of the story. For instance, our MC is writing a novel, and most of the characters, if not all, are named after people from her life. I think that the way she is telling her story gives hints to the true nature of characters in the overall novel, but not enough for me to feel that this aspect was necessary. I don’t feel like I learned anything that wasn’t already obvious in the larger story, and it often took me out of the tension and suspense of what was happening. I think it could be omitted entirely. 

Logic--4: the logic did and didn’t logic logically for me. Sometimes I was like, “okay, I’ll buy that” while other times, I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of some decisions made by the author—particularly in the relationships she created between characters. And, again, some things were just SO convenient and clearly a means to an end plot-wise, that I felt a bit cheated as a reader. 

Enjoyment--3: With everything else considered, I just did not have a good time. Apart from the issues listed above, I do not enjoy some of the themes in this book (child abuse/death, animal abuse/death) on a personal level. This type of horror is just far too real for me, and I do not enjoy reading about it at all, especially when it has no supernatural elements to it and is instead people doing these horrible things. Both of those were central themes of this novel, so bear that in mind when going in to read this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug abuse, Torture, Trafficking, and Pregnancy