Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

81 reviews

felixmarauder's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This one was rough. The story was engaging and I wanted to keep reading; while at the same time I never wanted to pick it up again. The violence was too much for me and there are some images that will haunt me for a long while. I would have enjoyed this book more if the focus had been more on the mystery aspect, and less on the SA descriptions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicide, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

oliviahayhoe's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

3.5

This book was SO GRAPHIC!! I read reviews and heard all about it on BookTok but nothing prepared me for the level of detailed torture and gross acts. PLEASE read triggers before reading this book. It had good twists and the ending was great. Just way more intense than I anticipated, and I watch a lot of true crime….

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

emcheym's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident

maddspysher's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

Loved this book. Kept me on my toes and thinking about what could possibly come next when I wasn’t actively reading. Please check the trigger warnings before - Very graphic 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Car accident

devinjai6655's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.25

This book surprised me. When I saw it was a 20 hour audio book (including the short story Blond Hair, Blue Eyes), I was a bit hesitant due to having other audio books on loan and told myself I'd give it till halfway, then see how I felt. It's slow in the beginning, but really ramps up and then punches you in the face at that halfway mark. Look for those trigger warnings because there was something I was still reeling about today after I got through listening to most of it last night.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Excrement

So there's a part towards the end where

one character is chained up with a bag over her head and she is being basically waterboarded with urine

. There's plenty of other stuff, but this caught me so off guard.

lbyars99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

princess_marie's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicide, and Alcohol

fi_sandison's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

stacydelgaudio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

lampbee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I can’t tell if i loved or hated this book. It’s very violent in its depictions, at some point it felt needless or even voyeuristic? I didn’t like that element of it especially given the whole plot of the book. The premise I feel was solid and I liked the execution it was just a lot more grim with a lot less payoff than I expected. However I liked the development and the twists not being predictable/trite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

The description of Lydia getting

waterboarded with paul’s piss

was a bit intense to the point of me not being sure what the purpose was. Obviously to show

that Paul is evil/irredeemable and is willing to sexually abuse Claire’s sister

but it felt gratuitous. The same I feel could be said for the description of the photos

I understand that gore was required to get their heinous crimes across but the description of the mutilated and cleaved girl hanging from barn rafters while blood-soaked and fully erect men posed for a photo was a lot to take in and I wonder how much detail was required to get the point across

. Maybe I just prefer for rape culture to be referenced or described on a more nuanced level and something of this level wasn’t going to hit — but at very least there can be no debate over whether the crime was “all that bad”. I will say though, I’m probably not the only one, by the end of the book

I was hoping Paul would have to endure some of the torture he doled out. He kept Julia alive for two weeks, I would’ve liked to see him have to endure something of that caliber not a strained but quick death in a forest.

I’m very uninterested in women not stooping to their attackers level , they need to get even, idc.