Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier

25 reviews

mkzach's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Dementia, and Grief

laney097's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

milymily22's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Really well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

I’m not sure if I would’ve picked it up if I had known about the pedophilia beforehand, but I really liked this book. While it is mentioned, the details weren’t explicit so I was able to get through those scenes.

julienicole1106's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

paisleypetty's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dementia, and Alcohol

jasmine256's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

kshertz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I love a good mystery. I also love when I can call any part of the book. Which in this case was only 1/5 twists. But I’ll take it! It’s a page turner that I couldn’t put down. Definitely worth the read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This is my first book by Jennifer Hillier and unfortunately it wasn’t a win for me. I really enjoyed the first quarter of the story from Paris Peralta’s perspective as she’s trying to navigate the criminal justice system after the suspicious death of her much older husband. I found this part intriguing and mysterious, but once it transitioned to the second part where the focus was on Drew, I just did not feel engaged with the story. I found Drew’s judgmental and slut-shaming attitude really through me off.

And just a heads up, there’s a huge focus on detailed child abuse and trauma, which I was not expecting from this book, and I probably wouldn’t have picked this one up if I had known that. As well, the mystery seemed to have just been figured out about halfway through, and then just when the tension started rising again, everything just sort of resolved itself, so it just left me feeling like everything wrapped up way too quickly, which was unsatisfying. 

I did enjoy Hillier’s writing style though and I’d definitely still be willing to check out more by this author—if you’ve read anything else by her, let me know another of hers that I should pick up.

Thanks St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books & Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

emmk's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, and Murder