Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

8 reviews

gwenswoons's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Holy fuck this was so good. It’s been a while since I have read a thriller so totally addictive and masterfully crafted and I could NOT get enough. This was in the category of The Last Housewife and others like that for me, just totally gripping faves I will remember for a long time! I found myself listening to it for hours at home — I’m usually an audiobook reader on my  drives to commute to and from work, and on regular longer drives in and out of town, so when I can’t stop listening even at home I know I’m totally absorbed.

I’m so impressed by a book that both makes its characters do terrible things and makes us root for them anyway. The villain characters are SO FUN in addition to being monstrous and I thought all of the self-referential philosophical and academic nuggets just added to the humor.

January LaVoy is completely amazing narrating the audio — I have loved her work many times before but the disguised voice and all the different characters in this one were SO great and so scary.

It’s so fantastic and also truly grisly. Every possible trigger warning.

I saw some of the turns coming (not way far away, and not in an unpleasant way) but still was TOTALLY thrilled at the dénouement (like, a package got delivered and my dog started barking and I almost passed out from sudden terror  🤣), and thought the pacing of the book was so effective overall. I cannot WAIT to read more Adrian McKinty!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

shesflippinpages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

sharlapeggy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder

mrsmishler's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

hannaashaffer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? No

3.0

i enjoyed the story more than i enjoyed the authors storytelling. definitely a page turner but i dont know…i had my qualms 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Torture

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Such a terrifying, yet fascinating premise for a book. This is a unique thriller and one that I won’t forget about anytime soon. The second half of the book drug on a little for me but once I understood why it was set up the way it was, the pace picked up again. It didn’t take me long to identify the bad guy once the second part of the book started but it was gratifying to be right in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

melmertsis's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

hellokatya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

i really enjoyed this book. i had a hard time putting it down. i will admit, i was a little underwhelmed with the ending, and was left with a few questions, but nothing detrimental to the story. great fast paced and quick read. 10/10 would recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, and War

Minor: Vomit