Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis

9 reviews

maya_hall's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Animal death

calamitywindpetal's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexism, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death

emeraldelephant's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

This was intense!  Not only was the plot even crazier as a continuation of The Initial Insult but it delivered on many fronts.  It's also pretttttyyy gory and gross.  I have a decently strong stomach but some descriptions were A LOT to listen to/read.  I didn't have strong feelings about Ribbit in TII but man he pissed me off in this one.  He always seemed weak and passive but he flipped that and became kind of evil.  To be fair, he was bullied pretty badly for a while and he wants revenge on the popular kids.  But the manner of his revenge was harsh.  Tress, bless her, she tried so hard in this book.  And yes, she made up for a lot.  She's a very interesting character to read from and follow and I'm really glad I finished this duology.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

poppyseedromance's review against another edition

dark fast-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Excrement, Dementia, and Classism

maleficentbookdragon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Medical trauma

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder

inkdrinkerpdx's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have been waiting for this book to come out ever since I finished the first  book so I started this as soon as I got it. I was glued to eat page as the story unfolded. I really enjoyed the twist and turns in the story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this to review! In all honesty, this kind of horror isn't necessarily my favorite genre. But, I read The Initial Insult last year and had to know how this story ended. In true Mindy McGinnis style, you're in for an absolutely wild ride.

This book picks up immediately where the first one leaves off, with no interruption in the events happening. What I found useful in this book is McGinnis includes the days everything is happening, becuase it would be easy to forget how much time is passing. Especially becuase for parts of the story, Tress is in a state of delirium. As she unravels the complete story, you'll figure out the mystery right along with her. Needing to know why all of this is happening in this town.

Did the ending seem a little far-fetched? Yes, but also so does the rest of the story. So, it kind of fits. I will say, if you get queasy at descriptions of gore or infected wounds, you might want to avoid this one. Because there are some very gruesome descriptions in this book. Like, I had to skip a few sections because I just couldn't do it.

I know the first book was a Poe story re-telling (I don't remember which one), but there are a lot of nods to Poe in general throughout this book. If you are an Edgar Allen Poe fan, I'm sure you would have a great time trying to find all the Easter eggs. Those are masterfully done!

Honestly, I feel like if you know Mindy McGinnis, you know what you're getting into when you pick up this book. She manages to keep the reader on their toes, and this is a dark, gruesome book that should definitely make it on your YA horror lists! 
-----

Is this a great ending to this duology? Absolutely, yes. Should you read it if you have a squeamish stomach? Probably not. That was absolutely a wild ride, stay tuned for a full review to come later this week!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gore

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, and Murder

Minor: Drug use

sunshine8473773's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gore

jfontaine's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

 Wow. This book is so thrilling. I couldn't put it down. It's a fast-paced novel told from three perspectives: Tress Montore, Rabbit Usher, and Rue, an orangutan housed at Amontillado Animal Attractions. The panther from the first book, The Initial Insult, is very much a part of this book, but readers see Rue's perspective instead. This book is all about finding family, losing family, and revenge. I audibly gasped while reading on more than one occasion. It is very dark with an extremely satisfying ending. I highly recommend this book. 

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent and Murder

Minor: Animal death and Drug use

Even though I'm adding a lot of content warnings, it's a brilliant book. Atmospheric and chilling.