Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

11 reviews

lilith_hmr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.75

This like the 'One of Us is Lying' series was an easy read. The flow was smooth and the plot twists were unpredictable. But McManus could have increased the tenseness a little more in the last act because I didn't find it all that satisfying. Although a little flimsy, the conclusion wasn't too horrible. The book's final sentence had such a shockingly unexpected conclusion. At first, it wasn't very apparent, but once I got it, it was good enough to state that Karen McManus is a plot-twist genius.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Vomit, Murder, Mental illness, Car accident, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Pedophilia, and Gun violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Alcohol, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Blood, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

A fast paced YA mystery crime thriller that makes you second guessing until the end. 
  
A prom queen goes missing in 1995, then a second get killed just 5yrs ago, now threats are being made against this year's prom queen in Echo Ridge. Can Ellery and Ezra figure out what happened to their missing aunt, and will Ellery be the next victim?

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Bullying, Infidelity, Murder, and Violence

esterslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Car accident, Cursing, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

Ugggggghhhh, the end was so fucked up🤢🤮 def a great read in time for the spooky month with a ton of suspense🤍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Car accident, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Stalking, Vomit, and Sexism

rayne_1906's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

3 hours 12 minutes - I was enjoying this book immensely up until the ending was revealed, and don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but I was slightly disappointed, mainly because I didn't like how a lot of the information was relayed to Ellery via Ryan, almost an infodump of facts that the author couldn't figure out how to relay in a more natural way. However, I do think the reveal was good for the most part, unexpected but not unrealistic/far-fetched. I thought the character's were fairly interesting: Ellery maybe fell a little flat as a character but for the most part she was mostly fleshed out. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol and Vomit

bornachoker's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Addiction, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Drug abuse, Grief, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content and Biphobia

joan_salder's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

First of all, this was 'the best book' of all Karen books I have read till now (only 2). The ending is mysterious, but the last sentence brings up a lot of thoughts to our mind.

Spoiler

It brought up the thought of Sarah sleeping with Peter, because that is the only way he would think of Ellery to be her daughter. Secondly, Sarah knew something which Sadie didn't and that is her and Peter's relationship, because if it was only homecoming queens getting kidnapped and murdered then there is no chance that Sarah might have suffered, because Sadie was the homecoming queen. I am literally so sorry to the characters I suspected because they were not guilty and I just had crazy thoughts. So, well, that is literally it.

I loved the plot set up and everything. I even liked Ryan Rodriguez and Ezra and Malcolm and Declan. Of course who doesn't. But beware of the choices you make...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Murder, Death, Cursing, and Car accident

Moderate: Bullying, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Violence, Stalking, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Deadnaming, and Blood

thenonmouse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Addiction, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

that_person22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I absolutely loved this book. I was making theories every five second

Spoiler

and when I discovered that the murderer was Peter I felt sick to my stomach. What a plot twist!

I absolutely adore the characters and love how there lives and family’s aren’t perfect! Absolutely devastated that the book is finished.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, and Biphobia

harleighc's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.75

    I can’t say much for the plot, since it took me forever to read this book. If you’re coming from One Of Us Is Lying, just be aware it’s a very different set of characters with the same good writing. I had trouble relating to the characters, so I didn’t enjoy it as much. The ending seemed kind of thrown together, but like I said it took me three or four months so I didn’t get the full effect. Still an okay book, just not my favorite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Child death

Moderate: Gore and Car accident

Minor: Alcohol and Drug abuse