Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

14 reviews

maggies's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This is very middle-of-the-road for me. It took a while to build up, and the ending felt very abrupt. In between was mostly Isa being anxious and insufferable, even if she was also justified. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder and Self harm

eloisetaylor's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

bessadams's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This was an interesting story, but I felt like the ending was a little unsatisfying. The very, very ending I appreciated, but it's just a bummer to get sucked into a story expecting a good payoff, and then not getting it. Also! I am really wondering if there was a Muslim sensitivity reader for the part of Fatima. Parts just didn't seem nuanced. Also, Fatima and her family were named the first names that come up when you search "common Muslim names" on Google, which I did to verify. There may be a reading of this that says that since Kate is the main POV that we're getting, the book is written as a white person's view of Islamic practices, since it's Kate's view. But that also feels like a blah reason. Like this whole "you cover your hair now and that makes you a whole different person" thing is like... but what if we didn't?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Suicide, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Medical content

The MC talks quite a lot about her young baby, and that might be not excellent for anyone going through a time where they don't want to read lots of worshipful language about babies.

mlbreton's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I really did like this book overall. It was a fun read and I kept trying to guess the outcome and kept getting it wrong! 

I did have some issues with the book, but mostly with the characters and what the author was trying to make us feel about them. For example,

I found Isa awful. I thought it was so cruel of her the way she treated her husband and being so offended that he thought he was cheating, but she was being so distant and not communicating with him AT ALL so I think it's natural his head went where it did! And we're we supposed to LIKE Ambrose, the father/artist that drew his daughter and teenage friends NAKED?! I don't care how much the main girls said it "wasn't like that", it's creepy as hell and SO inappropriate. Lastly, with Kate and Luc, we're we supposed to be rooting for them at the end? Or find it romantic that she wanted to sacrifice her life and freedom for her brother she was SEXUALLY INVOLVED WITH?!? I did not get that at all and couldn't get past that weird family dynamic to find any of them likeable.

Overall, the book kept me engaged but I did find it disappointing that it ended on

another lie

instead of having the characters grow from that

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Incest, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

bella_donna's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Suicide, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder, Self harm, and Sexual content

cassiereadsbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, and Grief

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Medical content, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Misogyny, and Islamophobia

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I rarely read mysteries, but I am so glad I picked up this one! The emotions Isa and her three friends go through are palpable. And I greatly appreciate the fact that the women had goals, ambitions, fears, hopes, etc. that went beyond being wives and mothers, even though most of them are wives and mothers. They felt fully fleshed out, complex, and interesting. It's a great boarding school, dark academia story told from the perspective of an adult looking back on her harrowing teenage years. 

I took off one star because the ending is a bit confusing and a little ambiguous considering the amount of detail that went in the rest of the novel.

Be mindful of the trigger warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

hannahet's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Suicide, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, and Infidelity