Reviews with content warning for Torture - Killer Instinct

This time we get a greater spotlight of Dean and his past. We also get betrayal, fights and many other tense and emotional things. And if you like school settings; This one is for you! This book is definitely more tense than the first one. And I would also say that this book is more character focused (and its relationships) than plot focused like we used to have in the first book.

I really liked how the trauma was depictured in this book and that not everyone deals with it the same.

We have a character who hides its emotions and acts as if everything is fine (suppressing behaviour), one who has flashbacks and bottling its emotions, one that feels left out on everything and like the odd one out, guilt and remorse for something that wasn't in its control, one who can't control its jealousy and feeling abandoned and finally one who feels like a survivor even though it was a victim.

In this book we get lots more character insights and also backstory from those who we missed in the first book. If you couldn't decide yet whether or not you like a character or who your favourite might be, here is your perfect chance to get to know them all and get a picture of them.

Fortunately we get less romance for this one, which is a relief for me, considering how annoying and just out of the theme/genre it was. Like we were in a crime scene but also had a romantic midlife crisis?? And their fighting also got less, at least in my opinion. The only romance aspect is near the end of this book.

I wish I could say something good this time about Lia as I already mentioned in my other review that I had mixed feelings about her and that her natural lie detector isn't that much of any use (reasonsed in my other review). But this time she really went too far. Not only did she put words into another character's mouth, but she also didn't accept any apology and never saw herself as the one who acted up. She is so childish to not admit her own wrongdoings but poking at other's.
(Also the reason I gave why her 'power' is useless turned out to be just as I thought to be a logic hole as she apparently can detect a lie even if the person was a psychopath who couldn't care less to lie)

The part with the whole apprentice thing was SO OBVIOUS. Also that there were more than one in the end, I even joked about this! I also joked that there might as well can be a third one! What is thisssss and why does the author out of now has the same thought pattern as me??? She didn't have that in the first book. But I think the part how Dean had his first own victim was a bit surprising. I mean when Dean said he watched I was already thinking that he was probably forced to also act, but I wasn't that sure and I wasn't sure on whom. It was also obvious with the letters Reading got as he already mentioned this before and the focus was on it anyway before we got our answer. Also what the... it was Webber? I even highlighted that name but was like: He barely got screen time he won't be it. Funny how he is the only surprising plot twist.

Cassie gets treated so unfair that it made me kinda pissed off. She takes the blame for everything, covers for the rest of the group and gets almost only a real punishment than just words and Lia didn't even say thanks and just got mad at her even, like what? Imagine taking all the blame even though none of it was your idea getting punishment and all you get is; It’s embarrassing. Really. If you stay here, you’ll get us all caught.'. She got caught not for the reason Lia even said and for a total different one and no one seemed to care.

The ending was shocking. And then the very very end was so exciting. Aaah finally!! They deserved it so much!
Also the word 'All In' was already used for this book, so I'm curious to know what the title actually means for the next book in this series.

In case anyone needs this — Here are ALL in real life serial killers mentioned in this book:
1. Charles Manson
2. John Wayne Gacy
3. Ted Bundy
4. Jeffrey Dahmer

This book mentions adult/minor relationship in a sexual way. It is only briefly mentioned (very briefly!) but here is anyway the following chapters that mention it: Chapter 16 (the ending only), chapter 17, chapter 20 (only the ending), chapter 21 page 5-8
There is also other content than this in these chapters so try to just skip the crucial part in these and not the full chapter.
Also; Each chapter after chapter 16 just repeats the same thing so there is no new info about it. The mention of it is only a few sentences and also quite vaguely.

—————
By the way shout-out to my country's famous philospher Nietzsche who was mentioned in this book 😂

Content Warnings

sharlapeggy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Liked this book a lot. Didn’t grip me as much as the first but I still really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next one!

Content Warnings

abbiebonnyman's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

tejadurai's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

Content Warnings

lkristin2018's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

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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

4.25

Content Warnings

samreen_f's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book went from an easy 5 star to a 4.5 star to a 4 star which although I’ll admit is still high the book got worse and worse and WORSE. First thing I need to talk about is the STUPID LOVE TRIANGLE. Love triangles are my LEAST FAVOURITE TROPE because someone always gets hurt in the process and my heart actually broke

when she chose stupid Dean over MICHAEL ALEXANDER THOMAS TOWNSEND 😭😭😭😭 she chose the wrong dude. It was actually heartbreaking when he asked her if he found her first instead of Dean would she choose him and she didn’t even respond😖😖😭😭 and he was SOO SAD and he said “that’s what I thought” 😭 NO NO PLEASE I SWEAR SHE CHOSE DEAN ONLY BECAUSE THEY HAVE THIS WEIRD TRAUMA BOND CRAP RIGHT NOW. Cassie really said “ Ew I DoNt WanT tHe EmPatHeTIc ( literally) SwEEt ChArMiNg FuNnY ToWnSeND I WaNT tHE EmO DePrEssED TrAUmaTiSed ReDDiNg! WTH WAS THAT GIRL THINKING!?

anyways….. (sigh) apart from that dumb romance the plot was actually very entertaining and I love the development of Agent Sterling but it was like

Omg there’s 2 killers then last minute it’s like op nope we have 3 I felt like it was waaayyyy to late int the book to add another killer

ALSO is it just me who feels so bad for Sloane she literally deserves the world she always enthusiastic and sweet but LIA?! she really gets on my nerves sometimes and I’m like please 🙏🏻 be quiet 😌🤌🏻 so I really liked the plot the romance in this book I could get through better as it wasn’t as cringy and I really liked the plot twists some of it was obvious though. Overall I did like this better then the first book and I hoping in the next book things get a little better!

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