Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

4 reviews

bookishbinks'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

wowza, that was intense. and super fucked up. also incredibly heartbreaking.

definitely be mindful of the content warnings before jumping into this one, but in all honesty it didn't seem any better or worse than, like... an episode of criminal minds or law & order. (then again, i did read the slob so maybe i'm just desensitized to reading about violence.)

but the heart of the story is the fractured relationship between two sisters - claire and lydia. i was super invested in both their POVs as they navigated the mystery of their eldest sister's disappearance together. sam's letters to julia broke my heart. the grief and being unable to move on due to lack of closure was done super realistically in this novel.

as for the actual mystery part, it was... meh? as i've stated in other reviews, i am (unfortunately) incredibly good at predicting things so 60% of the plot twists i had pretty much already guessed, but again, i was really intruiged by claire and lydia's story together, so that really kept me frantically page-turning to see what would happen next.

overall, i really enjoyed this book. the graphic violence against women was a little excessive though, i'll admit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

felixmarauder's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This one was rough. The story was engaging and I wanted to keep reading; while at the same time I never wanted to pick it up again. The violence was too much for me and there are some images that will haunt me for a long while. I would have enjoyed this book more if the focus had been more on the mystery aspect, and less on the SA descriptions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicide, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

savreads28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

amaris13's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria