Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

4 reviews

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I believe this is my fourth Jess Lourey book and I can confidently say that she knows how to deliver and exciting mystery. One of my favorite subgenres is small town horror/thriller stories from a kids perspective that takes place in the not too distant past. That's very specific and Jess Lourey does a good job of it.

This book is about 16 year old Heather. She lives in a small town and wants to spend her summer playing drums in her band and spending time with her friends but things get crazy when a girl in town goes missing. Heather has to figure out who around her she can trust and unravel the mystery while trying to watch out for her younger sister, deal with her mom's unpredictable mental health, and struggle with the fact that her friends are growing up faster than her.

This wasn't a perfect story but I like with this authors other books, I found myself enjoying the process so much that I felt I needed to give it a pretty high rating.

Heather is a super likeable character. You can really feel the bond between her and her friends. A lot of Heathers feelings about her friends and growing up are super relatable.

The mystery unravels at a pace that makes you want to read this book in only a few sittings. 

There were some things I didn't like. I felt like the climax of the book could have been a bit more exciting - it almost felt a bit rushed. I also wanted to know a bit more about Healther's mom and the reasoning behind Heathers "accident". There was a lot of things that were hinted at, especially regarding the camps and such. But I felt like I didn't get all the answers. I also felt like the moms should have done more to protect their daughters if there was something sus going on in the town. I have questions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Excrement

A girl is kidapped, kept in a dungeon and raped over the course of about 2 weeks. The descriptions of the rape are not graphic. A girl sees her underage friend blowing a few adult guys in a dark room - we find out she's doing it for money. Our main character is made to take her shirt off and have her photo taken. There's a lot of sexual harrassment towards all the young girls in this book but none of it is too graphic.

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

jordan_uhden's review against another edition

dark lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

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.