Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

54 reviews

marcostorin's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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? N/A

5.0

This book felt like watching a good thriller/horror movie with lots of well-handled social commentary. I couldn't put it down after I started it. I think my favorite part - besides how fun it was to read the book - is that it makes you face your (internalised in my case) homophobia. I think the best way to read this book too is without knowing much about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Stalking

frantically's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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? No

3.0

My highlight was definitely Ashley and Logan's relationship and I wish we could've spent more time with them. The paranormal element was interesting but a bit too little developed for me and I felt like everyone accepted it's existence (or the existence of any real paranormal activity) wayyy too quickly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Murder

Minor: Grief and Alcohol

anna_17793's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

this book is just so perfect. it was an emotional rollercoaster.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Child death

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

lyvane's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

J'ai trouvé le rythme bien trop rapide, et la suspension de crédulité en pâti un peu. Mais j'étais curieuse de découvrir le fond de l'histoire et j'ai été absorbée. Les persos principaux sont attachants.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Grief, and Lesbophobia

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

ashthemenace's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

I read this book in a day. I haven’t done that in YEARS, but it was impossible to put down!! It was so easy to get into it and keep reading it. Pretty much all the characters were likeable, and if they weren’t, you at least didn’t hate them.

except for the Sheriff. But you’re supposed to dislike him at the end.> It doesn’t waste time on descriptions and there was no point in time where I ever caught asking why the author included something.  This review is so bad because I can’t even really gather my thoughts on this book. But it was PHENOMENAL. Do yourself a favor and read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

I’m not sure if the gun violence tag counts for this book, but there technically is an act of violence committed using the gun, even if it wasn’t shot, so I counted it.