Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Sundial by Catriona Ward

11 reviews

reggiethebird's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

It's a thriller, alright. Vivid imagery throughout, and the plot twists and turns till the very last page. Plot twists can sometimes feel unearned, but I think here they were all reasonable, and nothing felt too out of place by the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Self harm, Vomit, and Trafficking

the_book_bee's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, and Cannibalism

fi_reads_books's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

thehmkane's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

bowenlacar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

nisima's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Medical content, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

Much of the plot and setting revolves around animal experimentation specifically on dogs and a coyote. Things go horribly wrong, and the premise of the experimentation is debateably ableist. The rest of the plot and setting basically revolve around a woman escaping a deeply abusive relationship, and worries that one of her two daughters might be a serial killer. There are multiple violent confrontations. The end is happy but may be too ambiguous for some given the tension.

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Catriona Ward does an amazing job of writing thrillers that keep you on your toes. I had no idea what was happening, who to trust, how it was going to end, and I loved it! Sundial is a sci-fi, horror, thriller with so much going on I really recommend going in with as little knowledge as possible so you can enjoy the twists and turns. Big warning on animal cruelty though, there are a lot of dogs and animals being mistreated in this one and that is definitely something I don’t like. However, the animal cruelty in this was very relevant and not random or thrown in for shock value, and ties in with the themes of the novel. 

If you’re up for a crazy thriller/sciFi/horror mashup with beautiful writing, grab this one. I’m still thinking about it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book will hit hard for anyone who has a sibling (especially sisters) and suffers from generational trauma. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Gaslighting

If you are afraid of dogs, this book will prove to be quite triggering. Plus no one likes when the dog dies.

mfallon3491's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail