Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Lioness

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

7 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I found a copy of this book at a library book sale.
"The Lioness" follows a group of friends on a safari trip in 1964 in Tanzania. Katie Barstow and David Hill have invited their close friends to accompany them on their honeymoon. Everything seems to be going perfectly, until they are attacked and taken hostage by strangers. Now the group has to fight for their lives and figure out who is holding them for ransom, and why.
I was initially intrigued by this book because I wanted to explore a historical fiction that took place in Africa. Although this novel is that I did not think we really got a robust view of 1964 Africa. This novel was much more focused on the Americans that were kidnapped and what implications that would have on them. Additionally, this was a group of celebrities, which is why there was such immediate action from people to save them. I think this book did what it set out to do, it was just not exactly what I wanted.
This novel was violent and highly descriptive in its violence. If you are someone who finds it difficult to read about torture and blood in detail, this novel is not for you.
There is a slight mystery because the group does not know why they are being targeted. The reveal of what is actually going on was interesting and I did not see it coming. I also did not suspect the connections that were ultimately made.
Overall, this book was very okay; I appreciated it for what it did, but I was not blown away by it either.

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bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

2.0

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dianapiskor's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

While well written, this story is considered and marketed as a historical thriller, but oftentimes I found myself not thrilled by the story. Each character has their own chapters and POV and there are a bunch of flashbacks. As a result of the story’s structure, I didn’t really care about the characters and for the first 30% of the book all the characters has the same observations, which just made the story repetitive. Once the characters became distinctive, the story brought in too many things and made the plot disjointed. And then once I would start to get into the story, the character would change. It was frustrating.

Towards the end, it became more engaging and engrossing, but I was already disengaged from the story by that point. I think the author did a ton of research and the details and concept were there, but ultimately, this book wasn’t for me.

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thewellreadlife's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective 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

This book was a sleeper hit for me. It disguises itself as a historical thriller, but it really makes you think. It touches on colonialism, celebrity, and childhood trauma, but in a way which allows the reader to define their own opinions. It's not preaching to us, it's simply telling a story, a very good one at that, and provides the reader an opportunity for introspection.

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