Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Searcher by Tana French

13 reviews

kshy44's review

mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Cursing, Alcohol, Police brutality, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Stalking and Suicide

aseel_reads's review

mysterious tense medium-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

1.0

I only continued with this book because it was an easy audiobook to listen to, otherwise, it became copganda about halfway through and then it had some really off putting actions by certain characters who never got punished and I don't like that 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Death, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

seadeepy's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Classism, and Animal death

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, and Domestic abuse

annniina98's review

2.0

Long, dragging, boring start, quite good middle, a huge let down as the revelation. I can see that some people would love to have this much set up, even in a thriller. But the ending was rushed, there is no way around it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, and Grief

Minor: Rape

mirandap442's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Addiction, Drug abuse, Gore, Blood, Death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol and Cursing

Minor: Suicide

katiekaiser's review

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

I liked this book enough. It was slower than I prefer and not as suspenseful as I expected. It seemed like a lot of build up for a somewhat anti-climactic  ending. The writing is very good. This is definitely not a fast-paced thriller. It’s almost more fiction than it is mystery. I don’t mind it, I was just expecting more suspense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Animal death, Child abuse, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide, Car accident, and Gun violence

linesiunderline's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.25

I hadn’t expected to like this one very much - in fact, quite a few meh / disappointed reviews almost had me passing it on to another reader. But it was a birthday gift, and so I felt I should give it a try. I’m so glad I did.

This is a quiet, character driven, literary style of mystery (otherwise known as my favourite kind of mystery). Yes, it’s slow paced. Yes, not a lot “happens,” and what does happen doesn’t come in any kind of rush. But somehow French creates a foreboding sense that kept me turning the pages, curious to know where things were going, and fine with the slow and steady telling.

A strong sense of place is one of the winning qualities of this read, and the relationship between Cal and Trey is quite wonderful. I was surprised to find this one really quite moving by the end. And the audiobook was excellent. Well worth the time - my review lands on the “read it” side of things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, and Transphobia

readerette's review

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I've never read anything else by Tana French, but based on this book, I would read more of her work. This book was slow, which I usually don't enjoy as much, but it felt an appropriate pace given the pace of life in the little town. I'm not sure how believable it is that someone who was a law enforcement officer, even a disenchanted one, would allow what he found out to go unreported or would stay in a community where that had occurred, but I can forgive that stretch by the author. Bit too much in the weeds about the sanding and shopping for me, but otherwise I liked how the characters fit together even when they seemed they shouldn't, and I could definitely feel the setting come alive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Medical content

bella_cavicchi's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

This was atmospheric and suspenseful and showcased a distinctive cast of characters. I tore through it in a night -- a testament, I think, to how captivating French's writing is.

Related: I think often about our collective engagement with crime novels because the genre's success often relies on a binary sense of justice and the unchecked necessity of policing. What is a thriller in an abolitionist world? It's a question I don't have an immediate answer for, but I really appreciate how French doesn't shy away from it altogether.

Excited to check out her backlist of works!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Cursing

Minor: Police brutality and Suicide

sonygaystation's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

oh my HEART. I don't normally like true crime/contemporary crime novels but I picked up this audiobook cuz it's narrated by the man who voice acts Arthur in Red Dead Redemption 2 (I'm easy to please when it comes to some things) and the entire time it gave me surprising The Last of Us vibes and then at the end he sings Wayfaring Stranger which is really the icing on top of the "This is literally Brenna's personality" cake so you know what! i'm rating it highly!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Suicide