Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

4 reviews

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

The characters were lovely.  I imagine I will pick up the next in the series at some point because I thought it was a charming read, even though it wasn't my usual cup of tea.

Also, I know it's a murder mystery but I wasn't expecting so much casual death.  Was a bit grim at times.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

katietregs's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but it took me a while to get into it. If I hadn’t been reading it for a book club, I might have even given up around page 100. 
The murder mystery aspect does have good payoff, and the characters are rich and lovable. I think it suffers from too many POV characters up front and not enough storyline events to justify the story’s overall complexity. 

I also think the suicide of Bernard felt unnecessary, and rushed. And the priest’s story was supposed to be sympathetic, but it made him seem like a weird creep to me. If the nun was going to run off with him… why did she hang herself? and why did Bogdan send the picture to Jason?

That said, it’s an impressive first novel from Osman with good mystery and great characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Bullying and Eating disorder

greatexpectations77's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I thought this was very cute, and the writing style from Joyce's perspective is a delight. I did struggle with that thing where when there are a bunch of characters, I have a hard time keeping everyone's characteristics separate. But I thought this was fun, and I would continue to read this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Chronic illness, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Terminal illness, Blood, and Abandonment

mysterymom40's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Dementia, Murder, and Pregnancy