Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

19 reviews

ashleysager's review

dark mysterious medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Grief, Mental illness, Death, Abandonment, Abortion, and Car accident

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

pianoplayer279's review

lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

Definitely my favourite book by Karen M McManus. Age 13+

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Grief

sonygaystation's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

3.0

The romance was a little rushed and it wasn’t as much of a page turner as her other books. But whew that twist sure was something you can only get away with in fiction, it’s so absurd to imagine it happening in real life that it makes it extra fun in fiction

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, and Pregnancy

Minor: Grief, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death, Abortion, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness

texas_reznikoff's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gun violence, Abandonment, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Violence, Incest, Alcohol, Cursing, Gaslighting, Addiction, Grief, Miscarriage, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Catching up on my Karen McManus in honor of the new season of "One of Us is Lying" on Netflix (!); let it be known I am a sucker for a YA mystery, especially one that involves a convoluted family saga. That said, I'm bummed to say this is likely my least favorite of her published bunch -- it read too soap opera-y for me to get invested, and the pace is oddly slow despite the action that's packed inside. It happens -- they can't all be winners!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Dementia, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Minor: Car accident

shaunaxx's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Death, Murder, Grief, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Toxic relationship and Car accident

ladylovestead's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

This books has multiple timelines and multiple POVs. It is consistent with Karen M. McManus's other books. It's a thriller with some fun twists and turns. The families are dysfunctional and most of the characters are pretty well developed. If you like thrillers set in the Martha's Vineyard area, you might enjoy this. If I was a teenager, I would have been obsessed. As an adult, I still enjoyed it so long as I didn't think about the logic of the resolution too much. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Murder, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Miscarriage

Minor: Car accident, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

jbabbm's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Did some of the phrases/thoughts of the characters felt right out of an early 2000s teen movies? Yes.
Was the story actually interesting and completely sucked me in as the mystery developed? Completely.
Will check other Karen M. McManus books in the future? Totally, she certainly knows how to write a good mystery plot. I did see some of the things coming but she completely side-blinded me with the big reveal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Abandonment, and Addiction

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Gun violence, and Grief

mollyhood's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Incest, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Murder

cbbyles07's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

If you’ve read One of Us Is Lying by her you will like this one.  If you like stories that include family drama and disinherited children this one is for you.  It is not as faced paced as other books I’ve read lately but the ending was still a worthy payoff for sticking with it.  This is YA and could be read by older teens.  They do delve back and forth between the current situation and the past to help the reader piece together what secrets have haunted the family for so long. 

TW: miscarriage, drugs, alcohol abuse, death, and violence (most discriptions are not graphic and yield to expectations of a YA book)

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Content Warnings

Minor: Miscarriage, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Murder, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Dementia, Car accident, Bullying, Alcohol, Addiction, and Abortion