Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

40 reviews

goldfish_human's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Okay, I really loved it 😳
It was sapphic, mysterious and thrilling. 
I do agree that it's giving a Riverdale vibe but like, in a good way, in a strange, mysterious, "small town not as perfect as it seems" and "don't trust anyone" kind of vibe. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Blood

rtaire's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, and Grief

robin_reads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.5

Paranormal small town murder mystery. A married gay couple return to their terrible small town in the buttcrack of Oregon with their adopted daughter.

The romance in this felt completely unnecessary and did little to nothing for the plot. I didn't connect with any of the characters and didn't much care what happened to any of them. 
The plot surrounding the mystery wasn't bad. 
The pacing is weird sometimes--very slow and then time jumps of days and weeks. 

The ending was so weirdly happy and didn't feel like it fit. I get that a Happy Ending is always nice and most people want those but I would've preferred if it ended it a more tentative, maybe almost wary open ending

Additional CW: Drowning, attempted murder

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

pomegranite'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Sometimes when you read something, you can tell it's the authors first real work. The Dead and The Dark screams debut novel, from bad pacing, short chapters, straight to the point sentences, and telling instead of showing... I felt it could really use some work. The first 25 chapters or so really bored me and I had a hard time caring for the characters. I also couldn't really tell how the two characters were ment to end up together, as there was no chemistry or reason for them to even be near eachother. But as time went on and the more I read, the more I enjoyed. Once the book got to where it needed to be I didn't really put down the book, I zipped through the chapters and began to enjoy what I was reading. But then again bad pacing struck, and it really put a damper on things. But I'm not cruel, I didn't hate this book. I thought the author had a good idea with this story, and I enjoyed the family dynamic between Logan and her dad's... and I wish we saw more of it actually. I also really love how queer this story was. One of the main characters is a lesbian with two dad's and the other main is sapphic, and they end up together as a cute couple. All in all? I didn't love this book, I wish it was longer and had more builf but I didn't hate it either. It was a solid read that I don't regret, and it didn't put a bad taste in my mouth when I was finished. It did what it was supposed to as a young adult novel, and if I read this when I was younger? I probably would have loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying and Alcohol

Minor: Child death

shadowspinner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Police brutality

magellen's review against another edition

dark funny sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

A nice queer ya that captures the fear and enclosure of small town life while *other*. While some of the supernatural elements are poorly landed, the overall twist of plot is well executed (though you're gonna guess the killer pretty quick 😎)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Toxic friendship

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

author2223's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Murder

Moderate: Bullying and Toxic friendship

Minor: Hate crime

sunsetcity's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

ashavila1's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Stalking

Minor: Bullying, Grief, and Religious bigotry