Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

7 reviews

astoriareader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

SYNOPSIS

• Georgina (Geo), Angela, & Kaiser are best friends in high school. When Geo starts dating an older guy named Calvin, the dynamics in the group change. One day, Angela disappears.
• After fourteen years, Geo is a successful executive at a pharmaceutical company & engaged to a rich dude. When Angela’s body is found, Geo is arrested on murder charges by Kaiser, who is now a detective. 
• Geo ends up doing time in prison, and more murders start happening.
• What happened in the past & how is it connected to the present?

MY THOUGHTS

• Multiple POVs - Geo & Kaiser.
• Set in Seattle area.
• Different timelines - alternating between what happened in past versus present.
• Third Hillier book I’ve read, and she’s quickly become one of my favorite authors of the genre.
• Intense & hard to put down.
• Complex characters.
• Tough topics covered in book. Check trigger warnings.
• Well written. Easy to read & hard to put down.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️another gripping thriller by Hillier 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

leighb_3's review against another edition

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

5.0

Wow. This was such a fantastic read! Very emotional and challenging at times. I feel like I would have liked to know more about Kiser’s back story.

I didn’t put the pieces together about Geo’s son until right when Kiser & Kim were. I will say, I didn’t really like that Kiser and Geo end up together. Maybe it’s petty of me, but I didn’t think Geo deserved a truly happy ending. She didn’t deserve a horrible one, but idk, just felt wrong.

PLEASE read the trigger warnings before you start this book and be aware if you have any of them. I didn’t and had to put it down a couple times to process the

sexual assaults

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Eating disorder and Death of parent

katybugggg's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Abandonment, and Alcohol

rhyanreads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.5

Overall I enjoyed reading this book, I felt like the middle was a little dry and repetitive it also had A LOT going on and could be a lot to follow. 

It's a very dark book with all dark things you can imagine. At times I felt like they were thrown in more for shock value than to go with the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Terminal illness, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion

daniellenelson's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

middleagedbookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Wow. That was messed up. Some deeply disturbing stuff, but dang, was it entertaining!! I love the way Jennifer Hillier writes. She writes in that way that makes you want to keep reading and not stop. She weaves the past and the present timelines seamlessly and she brings attention to some debatable topics, the main one being nature vs nurture. This was such a great thriller and I will definitely be reading her entire backlist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

ldruckreier's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol