Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

312 reviews

authorkristenelizabeth's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow. This was an experience. Listening to the audiobook was a whirlwind. I did not expect where everything was going - and that's good in my opinion. The twists and turns were done at just the right time. WARNING! This book is VERY graphic of its violent scenes. There is a lot to unpack emotionally throughout the entire novel. A small part of me was hoping for redemption and a more justice-like conclusion, but overall I'm satisfied with what transpired. It's a great book if you're into high-stakes true crime that happens in the moment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

The content in this book is HEAVY. You need to be prepared for graphic descriptions of violence and body gore. There is a lot of emotions going on as well so if you're not ready to handle a whole lot of bad things, I would suggest not reading.

hannuhbookish's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.75

The story was compelling, but should’ve been trimmed down more. It was also much, much more gruesome and violent than I anticipated. Over and over and over. Could’ve done with less of that. I did come to really feel for the main characters, and it made me want to see how things ended for them.

This is not a light read. Take note of the trigger warnings and probably pick up something else if you aren’t prepared to feel a lot heavier.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

oc34n_g0d's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

holycowmomma's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Oh crikey! This book neatly broke me. I had so many staying at the wall, WTF happened there moments. I had to keep having a break to watch people making biscuits on YouTube while I gathered myself and was reminded of the good mundane things in life. An absolute emotional rollercoaster for me. If you want your IBS to flare up and your nerves to be shredded, this is a book for you. 
Loved the characters and the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

isabellat's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

megankrom's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia

mmmadelineee's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

elsuth'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

karaloyd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.75

Really well written book but dark. Read the trigger warnings! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

bookishbinks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

wowza, that was intense. and super fucked up. also incredibly heartbreaking.

definitely be mindful of the content warnings before jumping into this one, but in all honesty it didn't seem any better or worse than, like... an episode of criminal minds or law & order. (then again, i did read the slob so maybe i'm just desensitized to reading about violence.)

but the heart of the story is the fractured relationship between two sisters - claire and lydia. i was super invested in both their POVs as they navigated the mystery of their eldest sister's disappearance together. sam's letters to julia broke my heart. the grief and being unable to move on due to lack of closure was done super realistically in this novel.

as for the actual mystery part, it was... meh? as i've stated in other reviews, i am (unfortunately) incredibly good at predicting things so 60% of the plot twists i had pretty much already guessed, but again, i was really intruiged by claire and lydia's story together, so that really kept me frantically page-turning to see what would happen next.

overall, i really enjoyed this book. the graphic violence against women was a little excessive though, i'll admit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail