Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

42 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Wish we could do partial stars, but some we can’t, I’ll round up to four. I generally like Peter Swanson’s books. And I enjoyed this one too. The main issue I had with it is the same one I have with most cat-and-mouse stories - there’s nowhere really to go after the reveal. So as much as I enjoy most of the book, the endings often feel forced and hackneyed. I did like the format of the book starting out as a memoir. Reminded me a bit of Humbert’s confession. And like Humbert, the protagonist was really hard to like, especially as he revealed more and more of himself. The more I disliked him, the more I looked the book, which is usually the opposite for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ireadinbed's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.75

First book of 2024! 

In many ways this book reminded me of Paul Tremblay's Pallbearers Club, but if it had been executed well. 

I suppose that is because there is this untrustworthy, mostly unlikable, but somewhat sympathetic pov character. But somehow in this one I just had more fun reading. 

If I'm honest I couldn't put it down! Very compelling mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Vomit

kassidypf13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Car accident

mohaa's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Car accident, and Murder

jacksonaugust33's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, and Suicide

ali_sun's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

It was a good book. The beginning was intriguing and had me wanting to continue but it wasn’t a strong compulsion. It wasn’t until at least halfway through that I didn’t want to stop reading and wanted to know what we were going to find out next. And bonus, there are some good recommendations for books throughout. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

bookwormabby54's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Car accident

faraway_'s review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

I feel nothing and not in a good way. This was just really underwhelming.
Besides, it kept spoiling a bunch of mystery novels that I would've liked to read --> not fun

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Murder

blackrosemoon72's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I was going to give this a three until the last 30 minutes of the book. The reveal wasn't super surprising but I liked the wrapping up of the loose ends at the end of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide

ekmook's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail