Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

46 reviews

emilypolcyn's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

I had a lot of problems with the dialect in this book — the inaccuracies, the classism (only “bad” or “stupid” characters have a dialect, and once someone becomes educated or good they lose the accent), the racism (white lady failing pretty hard at writing AAVE in the 60s). Plus the prose would occasionally have dialect (like saying “likker” instead of “liquor”) but inconsistently and seemingly for no real reason? Not sure what that choice was but it always threw me out of it.

Very flowery writing but also was kind of giving thesaurus.com… and lots of small details about nature and food that interrupt the action without contributing anything thematically (besides that nature is beautiful and they’re in the south, which, yeah). If she mentioned grits one more time…

Also weak character development + characters who say every thought they’re having out loud (also in well-articulated prose) (unless they’re dumb and poor)

I think this really picked up during the court sequence (which I genuinely was interested in and a bit hooked by) but then slowed down again and got detached at the end. But maybe that’s just because Owens was referring to her own connection to a murder trial (which I only heard about after finishing this book and oh my god…. That lady for sure killed someone)

Spoiler

Rolled my eyes SO hard at the Amanda Hamilton reveal… like omg no way this clunky bad poetry that’s been shoehorned into random scenes the whole book was actually ~her~ the ~whole time~ wow I am so shocked

Also weird sex scenes?? And every single time she gets close to having sex she uses the phrase “circling her nipple”. Literally happened like four times 🥴

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Murder, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Racism, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

ank3's review

emotional inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Bullying

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Alcoholism, Racism, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

jessiesnoww's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Classism, Murder, Rape, Stalking, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, and Self harm

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Rape, Stalking, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

yruss972's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

Really beautiful book- have to give it 5 stars despite the gratuitous graphic sex depictions

Will trigger people for so many reasons - see content warnings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Mental illness, Child abuse, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Rape, Murder, Infidelity, Death of parent, Classism, and Bullying

Minor: Self harm and Hate crime

wing_san's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

The story was fine, and the descriptions of nature were quiet good. I found it could be verbose at times, and, as others have pointed out, the dialogue was wasn't the strongest. While I liked the characters like Jumpin and such, the author builds tension only to accidentally deflate it too quickly and too soon. I have mixed feelings about this book. I got emotional at times, but it was lacking something that made the transition between the two (eventually coinciding) timelines choppy. The time jump in the last few chapters felt especially abrupt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Cursing, Hate crime, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Blood, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Animal death

Minor: Addiction, Medical content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, War, Mental illness, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Drug use, Infertility, Sexual harassment, and Self harm

Graphic depictions of domestic violence, including against children.

Spoiler

A (frankly unnecessary) scene involving racist hate crime and slurs.

First period Coercion of sex / dubious consent / wear her down Some injuries are described quite graphically, more than expected, at least Implied painful sexual experiences. Attempted sexual assault.

magnoliabloomfield's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

0.75

Very very slow paced. Writing the accent annoyed me so much. The characters don’t recognize their own accent and you should write what they mean or else you distract the reader and distracted readers aren’t immersed in the story. We are bombarded with so much information about Kya in the beginning when we don’t necessarily want that much, and then later so much that we actually would have wanted to know was withheld. Also it felt like the author created a lot plot hole fixes on the spot and didn’t edited them into the story further back to foreshadow. For instance Jodie’s scar. If we knew he had it from the beginning we could have felt recognition when we see a scarred man later instead of getting a big chunk of backstory explaining it when what we really want is to stay in the present moment. Overall I was underwhelmed and unsatisfied. Don’t get the hype at all. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Racism, Rape, Alcohol, Sexual content, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Blood, Bullying, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

malloryrryan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Stalking

hbotney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Murder, Racism, Stalking, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Grief, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Death of parent