Reviews tagging 'Torture'

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

10 reviews

mnatale100's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, Vomit, Islamophobia, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Car accident, Death of parent, and Classism

kcarney86's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, and Classism

jillianm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

emilysbookishlife's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Stalking

lttlemzsmok2mchweeeeed's review

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

laurenleigh's review

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This is Stacey Abrams’ first novel published under her name (not her pen name, Selena Montgomery), and I was really excited to read it! It’s a mystery/thriller about a Supreme Court justice and political conspiracies. It’s got some House of Cards vibes, but you’re rooting for a much more moral and likable protagonist. I enjoyed it overall, but I have to say I really disliked the audiobook format here. The narrator’s style felt very affected and over dramatic to me, which was kind of a bummer. It constantly took me out of the story. It’s tricky to separate my feelings about a book vs the narration, but I’m pretty confident that I still liked the text. This would be a difficult novel to write for someone outside the legal profession or even outside of Washington. Abrams is definitely using her expertise wisely in her writing! (Is there anything she CAN’T do??) I appreciated how Abrams kept the legal content very approachable, not too opaque for a regular reader. Though I should maybe note that all my parents were/are lawyers, so I perhaps have slightly more familiarity. I also like how Abrams didn’t tie up every single loose end, but it still felt finished, not like she was leaving you hanging for a sequel. It just felt very grounded in reality, where we don’t get perfectly neat endings. If you’re into this genre, definitely give this a go and support Stacey, but maybe do the regular book rather than audio.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident

jennifer_bush_73's review

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

The story was engaging, and the premise is very interesting. However, the writing seemed stilted. The language didn’t flow easily. She used some obscure words that threw me off kilter (or my vocabulary sucks).

I would definitely read more of Stacey Abrams’ thrillers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Outing, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Minor: Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, and Abandonment

grifgirl's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

sfbookgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious

• 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

The highly-anticipated thriller is (almost) here! I am so grateful to have gotten my hands on an early copy of Stacey Abrams’s new novel. The political thriller takes place in Washington D.C. in which young law clerk Avery Keene is tasked with solving a series of clues left for her after legendary Justice, and swing vote, Howard Wynn is found in a coma. This novel pairs perfectly with The Queen’s Gambit Netflix series (or book) as Avery’s tasks often involve finding clues through chess moves. And while I don’t have much knowledge of chess, I was into it because I had recently watched the show.

 

Any political thriller written by Abrams is bound to be detailed and accurate. Some of the political jargon definitely went over my head, but I enjoyed finding and solving clues alongside Avery. Additionally, the storyline is easy to follow and the ending is satisfying. It’s amazing to think that Abrams wrote the first draft for the novel a decade ago, as the characters and conflicts are incredibly timely. 

 

Thank you Doubleday and NetGalley for an advanced e-copy! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, and Medical content

rachel_from_avid_bookshop's review

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Stacey Abrams's first legal thriller is a multi-layered suspenseful book that does not disappoint. The heroine in While Justice Sleeps is a top-notch female law clerk who unexpectedly is singled-out as the last best chance to save the day (and the nation) when her boss, Supreme Court Justice Howard Wynn, becomes incapacitated. This is a very smart read and lots of fun. (I expected nothing less from Ms. Abrams!)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Torture, and Violence