Reviews tagging 'War'

Pines by Blake Crouch

9 reviews

jdhauk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Violence, War, and Police brutality

zosiablue's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I've seen the TV version of this a couple of times through and thought it was finally time to read the books. It's such a thrilling weird sci-fi story and the payoff at the end of this first one is SO GOOD. You just don't see it coming and it gives you that same Planet of the Apes / Twin Peaks unsettling-oh-shit vibe. Drags uh some parts like the show but really really fun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Car accident, and Confinement

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Police brutality, War, and Infidelity

masoanarchist's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Death and Suicide

awaterswadesthrough's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Police brutality, Car accident, Confinement, Violence, Body horror, Medical trauma, and Kidnapping

midwichtriffid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Body horror, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Kidnapping, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War

hobbithopeful's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

From the very first page I was sucked right in, and I felt as scared and helpless as poor secret agent Ethan Burke. We follow our lost main character as he awakens in town with absolutely no idea where he is, and with only vague recollections of his current situation. Matters quickly go from bad to worse as he realizes he has no wallet, no phone, and the sheriff of the town is less then helpful. Burke has to discover what is going on, and try to retain his sanity in a place where everyone is starting to think he is crazy. 
Out of every monster, murderer, and creepy crawly mystery thriller I have ever read, there is something about the perfect town where everyone seems and acts happy, but there is a dark undercurrent that always unnerves me more then anything else. *shudders* Give me a vampire or a serial killer any day of the week and I will be find reading it, but the town of Wayward Pines had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end and my heart racing!
There isn't much I can say about this book without spoilers but let me just say, never in a million years would I have guessed the insidious truth about the seemingly sleepy town of Wayward Pines, and I ran  to the library website to put the next book in the trilogy on hold!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, Drug use, Vomit, Blood, Murder, War, Physical abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Medical trauma

ladawson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Blood, Death, Body horror, Car accident, and Gore

Minor: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and War

bearystarry's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Unsure how I feel about this... and unsure if I'll continue the trilogy. Definitely fast-paced and an easy listen, but I guess it has a lot of tropes that aren't necessarily my favourite.

Spoiler

The Creatures immediately put me off and then the ending, both with the far future and Ethan taking over the sheriff job, don't really get me excited to read more. Though I am vaguely curious as to how he handles that, still no idea if I'm curious enough to continue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, Police brutality, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Confinement

Moderate: War

Minor: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

astareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.0

When I first read this trilogy in 2016 I LOVED IT. Seven years later I've read a lot more and grown to expect a bit more from a book than toxic masculinity and fridging women, so my re-read was a hell of a letdown.

It's a shame since the premise is interesting, although The Lottery-esque setting of Wayward Pines was not believable in the least, let alone how the main character was seemingly invincible.

I might finish the trilogy again if I'm feeling masochistic enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Death, Kidnapping, Confinement, War, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail