Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott

8 reviews

briiivel_knievel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Abortion

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Confused about why this book’s average rating is so low. I am generally the harder critic than most, most of the time. This time, I find myself on the other end of the spectrum. Maybe I find this book too relevant in today’s political times. Maybe I’m more of a feminist than most people. Maybe it’s been a while since I read a book that I really enjoyed. Regardless, I’m sticking with my five.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

deshanejt's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Rosemary's Baby meets Women's Lib... What would you do if everyone treated your body like it didn't belong to you? How far would you go to keep yourself safe when everyone seems out to do you harm? 

I enjoy Megan Abbott's ability to draw on fear from symbolism, partnered with the threat of human nature and the paranormal. I love her writing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abortion, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty

_meganno's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder

larareads's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death of parent

cinnaminskies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

MEGAN ABBOT YOU BEAST

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Sexual content, Vomit, and Murder

dfrancis's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No

3.5

I enjoyed the book but I feel like the ending left a little to be desired. The book really plays on fears about bodily autonomy, misogyny, and reproductive justice, which all feels very relevant. It definitely had the creeping suspense of a gothic but I feel like the ending happened too quickly and was just a little lackluster and unclear. I’ve seen some people say the writing felt disjointed and didn’t flow well but i didn’t find that to be an issue, but I was listening to the audiobook and maybe it comes off better through that. Overall, decent read but not my fave

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, and Death of parent

debussy's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Beware the Woman is a bit of a departure for Megan Abbott. The terrible, wonderfully written characters are still there, and her masterful ability to write around solid details is also very much present, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions when it comes to character backstory and motivation. It starts out rather slow, with unwitting Jacy on a trip to visit her new father-in-law, but as with Abbott books, there is a slow twist even at the beginning that things are not going to go as planned.

This book has a bit more of a flair for horror than Abbott's previous books. Jacy is at first charmed by Doctor Ash, her husband's father. But changes lurk: her husband, Jed, starts to act more distant, less himself, more influenced in a way by his surroundings. He tells her a dark story about his father that doesn't seem to make any sense to Jacy, who sees Doctor Ash as an affable sort happy to grill and hike and show her old photos. But then the housekeeper doesn't act quite right, throwing Jacy off. When Jacy wakes up covered in blood, she's whisked away to Doctor Ash's friend's medical practice, where his friend examines Jacy and discovers she has placenta previa. 

Cue the horror. From here, Jacy's body is no longer her own, but even that is a slowly tightening screw. The men huddle, determining what to do with her, while the housekeeper lurks nearby, always watching and never quite giving up what she's thinking. It starts to churn together into a story of paranoia, both medical and patriarchal. Doctor Ash and Jed just want Jacy to be safe--to think about her unborn child, to be calm and rational, to do what they say above all. Jacy wants to get the hell out, but at every turn she's threatened or scolded or had all of her means stripped away. She has no internet, no wi-fi, no reliable land line after a while. They're off in the woods, far from help. Jacy has to help herself.

This is a story of women battling back--taking revenge, taking what's theirs, owning themselves, making decisions for their own bodies when the men around them would like to be calling all the shots. It is an addictive ride, and quite a fast one when the plot starts to spin and spin, upping the tension and paranoia and slowly peeling back all of Jacy's ability to trust in other people to make the right decisions for her. 

My one quibble is the housekeeper. She speaks in riddles and I was not entirely sure she needed to be so vague without explanation. There is also an extremely abrupt ending, which works for a novel that leans toward horror, and of course I can infer what happens, but I just wish these aspects of the novel had been a little cleaner. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol