Scan barcode
loulou_2530's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicide, Trafficking, and Religious bigotry
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
laverrrne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
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.vikkiph'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer and Dementia
rnbhargava's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism
There’s murder, sexual coercion and assault on underaged and of age characters mentioned and suggested. There’s drowning, confinement in tight, restrictive spaces, there’s mental and physical manipulation and torture. There’s hired hit men and lurkers. The plot has to do with a controversial cult that uses a lot of cultural appropriation of Asian religions and philosophies in the cult’s supposed doctrine. There are also scenes and depictions of endangering small children’s welfare. Cult characters assault female characters quite obviously as well. There are characters with mental and physical health problems. There’s suicide and murder. Look at the triggers.hexagon9067's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
worldwidewebb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Inconsistently written to the extent that I suspect Rowling/Galbraith used a ghostwriter for some or all of the writing. Certainly the editors were less involved in this one. Some of the book (particularly the later sections) read well, but several chapters were written as if it was Assignment 2 in Writers 101. Run-on sentences, repetition of words, the godawful use of synonyms to "said"... I can't exaggerate the number of times I physically rolled my eyes.
Not going to bother to flag spoilers because genuinely the plot is not worth spoiling. It's like someone read the Wikipedia page for cult/Charles Manson and decided to write 1000 pages on it. Lucky Robin can think her way out of every situation and is also very hot and everyone loves her!
Re: Robin and Strike, the whole reason I'm still plodding through these books - also no spoilers because there's nothing to spoil. Clearly Rowling/Galbraith know why people actually read these books and it ain't for the plot. Strike undergoes some slight character development this time around, I'll grant you, but most of it has to do with fish.
Will I read the next one? Probably. Will I complain about it? Absolutely. My arms literally hurt from holding this brick for the one million hours it took to read.
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence
jclanders's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting