Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards

42 reviews

xxfirerainbowxx's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief

peeshpish's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

1.0

i hated this book but i read the whole thing just to see how it ended so i guess it isnt a zero

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

cryptofauna's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.5

im so sorry via i really wanted to love this one.
it was just. weird and kind of mediocre. the main vibe that i got is that the author read intensity (or some other thriller novel w travel elements) and then wanted to wring out everything that made that book good into watered down ya fiction. there are just so many better ya thrillers than this one that you could go read instead.
i didnt really find any of the characters interesting, and the plot felt very predictable. the writing was pretty good and i was generally interested in figuring out where it was going, especially because it was so short and fast paced.  the letters from her admirer felt so random and had no connections to who it turned out being, but it was so obviously him because he was the only one she trusted somewhat and kept playing up how cute he was. 
knocked it out in two hours during a storm at camp but i really wasn't hyped about finishing it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

annamwallace66's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

shmayjoy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.25

This novel reminds me of every awful time I've ever had to sleep under a charging station in an airport. If, like past me and a million other traveling students, you have ever had to face the usual miserable "delayed due to a blizzard" winter break lay overs, you can easily slide into the protagonist's shoes...even if you would never accept the ride she decided on.
Five Perfect Strangers takes an ordinary teen who needs to get home to her mom for the holidays, and the four college students heading the same direction. Richards throws us into the back roads of Pennsylvania to remind us not to trust a person solely by their appearance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

allisonplus's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse

dlby's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

2.75

Major pro: binged it in one sitting. Author definitely has a way with words/early pacing to keep you hooked. Action scenes were really well executed; did a great job of navigating a lot of different characters and actions in the span of breaths without getting convoluted.

Unfortunate cons: Lots of unresolved red herrings and convenient outs. Book abruptly ends without tying any strings. I think the point was that the strangers left her life as quickly as they arrived but still felt far too sudden after the climax (we're talking five pages of resolution). Also the culprit was obvious from the beginning and the protagonist kept taking culprit's word at face value far more than everyone else's without the same level of scrutiny. Honestly a bit disappointing because I was hoping there'd be a last second redirection but no. Was upset the rest of the day after I finished it :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Vomit and Stalking

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

misshrider's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

2.75

This book had me hooked, one bad thing after another, it would have been a five star rating….the ending hurt it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction and Drug use

Minor: Cancer

steelepath's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Stalking, and Murder