Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Counselors by Jessica Goodman

4 reviews

liciaaaaa's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.25

Every character sucked except Imogene, but that’s because she was severely underdeveloped. I feel like Scooby Doo episodes have cleaner wrap ups than this book did. All that for tax evasion? Really?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Car accident, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Death of parent, and Classism

emily_mh's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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? No

3.25

I think this is the book where I give up on Jessica Goodman thrillers. With her first being my worst book of 2021 and her second only getting a 3.75 from me, I was hoping this book would be the one to convince me she could follow through on her enticing premises. But with a 3.25 rating, I think I can safely say that this author consistently fails to deliver, at least to the level that I want.

My main issue is with the MC. This is a make or break point for any book, but especially one using first-person narration. Unfortunately Goldie is such a non-character. I truly cannot describe her personality, interests (beyond camp), motivations, or desires. She just seemed very… blank. This was truly fatal flaw in the book for me because it made the whole thing seem very two-dimensional, and left me with the question: why was this story written? What did it seek to achieve?

Another thing I didn’t like was that the toxicity of Heller wasn’t properly addressed. At the end of the book you’re left with the impression that he truly loved Goldie and given time they would have gotten back together. In reality,

he drove under the influence, paralysed his best friend, lied about his involvement and sacrificed Goldie’s future for his own, then ghosted Goldie and encouraged people to bully her, even participating in the bullying himself

. I wouldn’t call that love.

Furthermore, the writing style was contrived at times and made me cringe a little. It was too dramatic when it didn’t need to be and so undermined moments that were supposed to be meaningful.

The mystery was fine for YA, although the motive wasn’t that compelling;

I never find financial motives to be so

. I think that multiple avenues of suspicion and investigation needed to be built up from the beginning. Also, the book doesn’t deliver on its promise of a thriller.

I can pay this book some compliments, though, seeing as I gave it 3.25 stars! The setting was a shining star. American summer camp settings are one of my all-time favourites so that was already a win; on top of this it was written excellently by Goodman. You could tell she was drawing on her own personal experiences. Nearly everything happens at the camp and I had a vivid picture of what it looked like. Also, the nostalgia Goldie had for her own experiences was potent and only served to deepen the sense of place.

Additionally, I think the friendship aspect was dealt with quite well.

I appreciated that it didn’t go down the black-and-white toxicity route but showed the complexity of maintaining childhood friendships when you’re growing and changing so much as a teen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: divorce, drowning, menstruation

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Compelling enough for me to read quickly to find out what would happen, but the character motivations were silly, the details in the reveal were convoluted, and I didn’t like a single character 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Violence, Blood, and War

superwhytheheck's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was such a compelling read. Every step of the way had me gripping the wheel (I listened to it while I drove) with nervous anticipation. I actually cried. This is probably my favorite mystery I have read this year!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Medical content, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Blood, Stalking, and Death of parent