Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

21 reviews

somelatenightreading's review against another edition

funny mysterious sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

blewballoon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

I listened to this on audiobook and I really enjoyed the narration. I have spent a lot of time in nursing homes, my mom has worked in one since I was a child and I also worked there for many years. It was easy for me to connect to the older characters, and I was moved by the types of struggles they face that are touched on in this book. It's a very funny murder mystery for sure, but there is depth as well. I laughed out loud, but I teared up and cried too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Dementia, and Grief

Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

bloopyfloopy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

rieviolet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

The book is divided into very short chapters, so that the reading experience feels very fast and easy.
Each chapter switches between quite a lot of point of views (to be honest, maybe too many). This certainly helps to keep the narration interesting and varied but, at the same time, it does not allow to explore the characters in depth and it can become a bit confusing to keep track of everyone and every storyline.

I think that the book relies a bit too much on the characters' "quirky" traits and, even though this makes the narration funny enough, it can come across as somehow overdone. 

I'm not really sure about the mystery part of the story, it did make sense
(sort of) but at the same time it felt a bit convoluted, maybe too much twists and turns towards the very end of the story?

All in all, a nice and quick read but I don't think I'll continue with the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Murder

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Trafficking, and Grief

Minor: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

kassidypf13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death and Drug abuse

lucyselim's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

starrygoldeneyes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death

wolfthorn's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book an awful lot more than I thought I would. It's an intriguing read with several twists and unexpected murders. I wasn't sure about having the occasional chapter from Joyce's point of view, it didn't seem to add much to the book in particular. Although I did find that her voice sounded like Patricia Routledge doing Kitty which was amusing. It was good to find a book where the main characters are all elderly for a change, although I think some people might find the discussions of dementia and suicide to be upsetting. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

bexpaget's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and Suicide

thepagesofmrsd's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A group of 4 unlikely friends in a retirement community meet once a week to discuss, and try to solve, old crimes. However, when a murder happens right on their doorstep, they find themselves embarking on their first live case...
 .
 The Thursday Murder Club was a lot of fun! It was full of vibrant characters and was definitely an easy read, despite the structure being a little disorienting at first. 
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 I thought the plot was great. The concept was something a little bit different whilst also drawing on the classic crime trope of the 'elderly amateur detective'. Despite its lightheartedness, though, I also felt like it had some depth and complexity. There were sections that were a lot darker than I expected, and it was hard to guess what would happen next, which I liked! 
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 That said, it did lack subtlety. No, I didn't know what was coming next, but I definitely knew what I was supposed to think! With so many things going on, too,  the narrative felt a bit disjointed at times. I picked up on a couple of continuity errors (or so they seemed to me) and I sometimes felt that there were just too many elements being squeezed in that didn't quite come together in the end. 
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 Overall, though, I really enjoyed reading this one. Did it live up to the five star hype? No, not for me. However, it was still well worth the read and I would like to read more about the antics of The Thursday Murder Club!  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Dementia