Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh

45 reviews

tspice24's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jewelsbookopinions's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed how gripping this was, but I did feel wanting more for the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Vomit, Dementia, and Trafficking

toadandsew's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I love Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn series, at first, I thought this was another edition of that series and then realized it was a standalone. However, I fully enjoyed this book. 

This book has several points of view. In one dark evening in New York City, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realise they have so much in common. They both feel alone. They both drink alone. And they both desperately want revenge against the two men who destroyed their families. Together, they have the perfect plan. If you kill for me, I'll kill for you.  

I feel like I could ruin this book just by trying to describe it and that annoys me, but I also love it. I feel like this review is going to be vague due to the fact that I don’t want to spoil anything about this novel. All I would say is if you judge it quickly, you will be shocked. The twists and turns in this book just completely shock you. Steve Cavanagh knows how to hook you in from the first sentence and just from the first chapter. There is multiple POVs from the main three characters and the law enforcement officer which keeps it every interesting. I didn’t trust anyone during this book at all, even when it got to the end, I still don’t trust the main characters. Steve Cavanagh always does short chapters which I don’t usually love, however in this book it worked and if it had longer chapters I think I would have struggled with it. 

The one thing I missed from this book that are in the Eddie Flynn books is the courtroom tension and the drama that comes with the lawyers. Overall, this book is action-packed and thrilling. Just a warning it talks a lot about murders and death and is quite graphic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, and Grief

shesflippinpages's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

mamasuereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked that the chapters were short and the story was a page turner.  I didn't like the way it ended.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Grief, and Murder

dogearedbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I selected this as one of my Book of the Month selections.
"Kill for Me, Kill for You" is a twisty, multiple points of view mystery that follows two women as they face the men that have destroyed their lives. Amanda's daughter was kidnapped and murdered, and she has not been able to move on since. She knows who committed this horrendous act, but without more evidence, he walks free. At a grief group, Amanda meets Wendy, a woman who also lost her child, and over an evening of drinks, they decide to kill for each other. Across town, Ruth was brutally attacked in her home. She desperately tries to remember who broke in, but she is struggling to recall details.
I enjoyed this story much more than I thought I would. Amanda is deeply flawed because of all of the heartbreak she has gone through. You want to root for her, but you also know that not every decision she makes is great. Ruth feels unhinged, and rightfully so. She was attacked in her home and no longer feels safe anywhere, and my heart just went out to her.
For the majority of the story, I was waiting for the inevitable connection between Amanda and Ruth. I knew their stories were going to weave together somehow, but I did not anticipate what the true connection was going to be. I loved it! The author did a great job of making the story believable, but unpredictable at the same time.
The ending was one of my favorite parts of this book, which is not normally what I think about thrillers. I did not see the ending coming, and because there were multiple points of view, I felt like I got two equally satisfying endings. One character had some concrete resolution that really made the story feel full circle. The other character was left to be a little ambiguous, which was a fun way to leave an air of mystery.
I highly recommend this book, and I look forward to reading more from Steve Cavanagh in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Infertility

hey_abijo'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? Yes

3.5

Women reeling from severe loss and trauma take us along for the ride on their hunt for vengeance. The story is based on this premise: two women, connected only by their shared suffering and constant grief, agree to swap murders— but their plans go haywire. Multiple engaging POVs, some clichès and predictability, moderate suspense, and many plot twists. Author Steve Cavanagh knows how to write suspense and mystery, but his skills are less aptly applied in matters of artful detail, emotion, sensitivity, and tact.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Grief, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood and Alcohol

The author is not sensitive in his relaying of details that are highly uncomfortable and triggering. Mentions of kidnapping, rape, child sexual abuse, pedophilia, stalking, violent attacks, and murder are blunt and recurring.

nixw1326's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

ummm, wow. this is why thrillers/mysteries are so cool! loved it from start to end, and every time i thought i knew something, turns out i was wrong! so cool, and totally didn’t see the ending coming until the very last second!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol