Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

25 reviews

letsy's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Stalking, Murder, and Classism

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

2.25

Book Rating: 2.25 stars

   I found this book hard to enjoy because I hated almost every character! They were all just dripping in privilege and entitlement. It made me honestly just scream at them and burn down our current inheritance policies. 

   Catherine was particularly unlikeable, as she didn't seem to have any redeeming qualities, she and Dan were the worst of the bunch. Dan was simply creepy AF. 

   The main mystery of the story wasn't too hard to solve by about halfway through the book. It was pretty obvious it was one of the kids. I honestly wish the author had gone another route as to who was the killer. I think Jenna's boyfriend would have been a good one to go with. But that's just me! 

   It wasn't terrible, but not nearly as good as I'd hoped with the hype. 

Narrator Rating: 2.0 stars

  This book just begged for a full cast audio, but instead, they just had one narrator which made it confusing, even in a 3rd person narration. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, and Abandonment

ashwatever98'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Stalking

Minor: Pregnancy

This book was probably my most favorite read thus far. Everything about this book was incredible. The suspense and the way the events unfolded kept me on edge throughout. This is murder mystery writing at its best!

brookey8888'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? Yes

3.25

This was entertaining, but I’ll never think of it again. It had a lot of reveals throughout which I didn’t see coming and I wanted to know what happened. As for who did it,it didn’t shock me. This was fine, if you like this author or if this sounds good pick it up, but if not your not missing anything amazing in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

amberjackonski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Violence and Stalking

bookishchaos's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I don't think this book deserves all the negative reviews it got. Like yes the second half got really slow and not a whole lot happened, but I was still invested all the way up until 75% and then I just skipped to the end to see who the killer was lol. It was exactly who I thought it was but I read a lot of thrillers. It was a nice read for a rainy afternoon. Not too long but not too short. I personally wouldn't recommend this though. It wasn't terrible, it was just alright.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Terminal illness

readers_sea's review against another edition

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

5.0

OH MY TWISTS!

The family drama was amazing. All the pov's were very well done. The story kept me on my toes.

When everyone has a motive, you never really know where the story is going to go, and while I had some theories, I still had no clue where this book was going to end up. I was so engaged in this book, I finished it really quickly because I just kept wanting to know what would happen next! The short chapters and rotating pov's also made it so easy to stay engaged in the story.

The ending was honestly so satisfying that I screamed!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Murder

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Infertility

maseface's review against another edition

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

3.75

Great Mystery. I was on the edge of my seat and I had no idea where things were going to go. I really liked the ending and unlike the previous book I read from this author there was no harmful depictions of mental illness (atleast none I caught).

Very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking

kaylinvm94's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Stalking

Minor: Infertility

kdonovan's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Child abuse