Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

3 reviews

zarakoconnor's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow. One of the twistiest thrillers I have ever read. Had an impending sense of dread the entire time. Was sort of predictable but in a way that left me empty and sad because this happens in real life. We know how these stories go because we have seen them on the news. Brilliantly written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

hookerkitty's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

rosesofthespring's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

I'm so happy that this was the book I started the new year with.

Jess Lourey writes with an anger that demands answers. Why are men allowed to act with violence in response to the same injuries that women are expected to swallow and smile through? Why are the hopes, futures, and very lives of girls an acceptable loss in the face of men's desires?

"Does that sound like the kind of guy who would abduct a girl?"

If your answer is no, what would it take to change it to a yes?

I didn't grow up in the 70s, when this book is set, but the echoes of a midwest girlhood resound through the decades. Parties you know you shouldn't go to. Friends pressured and stifled simultaneously, growing up way too fast. Men and boys who think you owe them something. This is an absolute powerhouse of fiction.

If I had one genuine criticism of this story, it would be that everything wraps up a little too cleanly. However, given what Lourey has been through in her life -and what she puts the reader through in her book- maybe that's a catharsis we both deserve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Here I'll try to expand on cases where the content is explicit, but does not take up that much page space. With regards to pedophilia:

Adult men are revealed to be coercing underage girls into sexual contact. The youngest girl we see on-page is 16, but there's evidence of girls potentially as young as 12 being in the same situation.

With regards to police brutality:

The top cop in the area is essentially trafficking girls. He's found to be using the authority of the badge to trade sexual favors for expunging juvenile offenses. While this isn't "violent" in the sense of a physical attack, it's certainly sexual brutalization.