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katieb94's review against another edition
- 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
Strike and Robin are tasked by a client to get their family member out of a church- which is more like a cult, in order to save them. It won’t be easy, as you have to gain membership to be able to gain entry. So Robin goes undercover.
I was really hooked on the chapters based around the farm where the church is based. The community, the rituals, the people, it was really interestingly written and I could have definitely seen it as the feature of a true crime documentary. Yes the author isn’t a very nice person but she can definitely write an engaging mystery thriller!
I have become so invested in Strike and Robin as characters that I genuinely didn’t want anything bad to happen to Robin. At some points I got really anxious and was waiting for Strike or other members of the agency to come and rescue her.
When it happened, I actually sighed in relief.
It’s really clever how the case comes to a close, with unexpected twists. It was much better than I expected it to be!
The confession at the end…..oh my gosh.
I want to read the next one now just to see what happens after that.
4.5/5 stars.
I really enjoyed it but I won’t be giving J K Rowling 5 stars anytime soon. 4.5 is the highest I can go.
Graphic: Child death and Death of parent
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Pregnancy
mama_in_melbs's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Murder
Minor: Pedophilia
fallenstarr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Dementia
leeloo218's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Trafficking
lollybee's review against another edition
- 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
Cormoran and Robin are employed to investigate a cult, with the purpose of extricating their client's son from its clutches.
This was an excellent read: gradually building the tension towards a gripping ending.
Well worth a read.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
leigh987's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Bullying and Fatphobia
3p0tlj's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
mhickman23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and War
sauvageloup's review against another edition
- 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
pros:
- the cult setting was extremely well done, very frightening and sinister and the traumatic effect on Robin and the others was obvious in their reactions. It definitely made you think about the horrors of cults.
- sadly J.K. is a talented writer and the pacing and characters are very good, with the complicated plot coming together and the characters growing throughout, to a degree.
cons
- the plot did feel too complicated towards the end as I struggled to keep straight who certain people were, including Graves and Abigail and some others. Would probably reward a reread.
- Strike was a bit annoying in this book, as he seemed naive/careless about the torment Robin went through (which though well addressed as it was happening and immediately after, seemed to be forgotten as the plot came together at the end), his jealousy towards Murphy is tiring, and his lack of action towards Robin gets frustrating.
- J.K. is clearly also making a point about how the law hesitates to go against people for PC reasons and overly tip toeing around sensitive issues, like religious freedom and people living differently. Strike snidely says 'live and let live' to criticise the cult. I think she is doing a subtle dig here towards trans people and their rights.
but overall another compelling Robin and Strike novel, probably the one that gripped me most so far with the scary cult plot.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol
All the content warnings here, very dark.mountainside_reading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, Stalking, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Rape