Reviews with content warning for Rape - Magpie

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

bumble_abi's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

you can tell I'm not having a great time with my mental health because I'm reading mass market thrillers again

this is blurbed as 'the most mind-blowing book of the year' which is the kind of hyperbole that can only set a book up for a fall. Marisa and her lovely boyfriend move in together and try to start a family, but Marisa is increasingly disturbed by the behaviour of their solicitous and overfamiliar lodger, Kate. There's a decent twist in this but it occurs only about a third of the way into the book, and then the rest is the long unraveling of how we got to that point, followed by a slightly too tidy ending.

This truly did feel like a book of two halves - the first half is great, tense and confusing and addictive, but it peaks too early and doesn't leave enough meat for the second half. There's not enough depth to any of it to justify its ultimate meandering. There's a (not graphic - the narrative voice just tells you it happened) rape scene which didn't have very much of a purpose in the plot except as a shortcut to creating a character who is unstable, which felt unnecessary and distasteful. I enjoyed it well enough but wouldn't rush to recommend.

Content Warnings

stagasaurus's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

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tessalort's review

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dark 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

4.0

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velvet_young's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

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hollymileham's review

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dark mysterious 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

4.5

such an interesting exploration of all the different complexities of motherhood, the twists in this blew my mind. defo lying if you say you predicted any part of this
rating 4 stars tho bc i feel like the ending was a bit optimistic for such an intense book

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curlydanreads's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

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kaylareads247's review

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challenging tense medium-paced

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

2.5

It was very easy to figure out the twists

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extraggie's review

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emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I read a lot of thriller/mystery and the likes so I'm not suprised by a story that often. However, this book managed to do it ! It was sad and dark but not unbelievable, more in a tragic things of real life way. Anyway a really really good book.

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