Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

77 reviews

vivisms_82's review against another edition

dark sad tense

3.0

I can handle a far fetched, convoluted story - but only if it's written well and the protagonist we are rooting for is at least somewhat believable. How can you go on a journey with her when you already think her backstory is ridiculous? Wayyyyy too many hardships to be realistic. Maybe if she was 45 and not 25 to have gone through so much I may have bought it better. And I get that in order for the plot to work, Riley needed someone with "no ties' but flippin hell Jules' past reads like Dickensesque tragedy one thing after the other;

we have a dying mother, a father that decides to suicide with her and sets the house on fire for insurance, Jules finds out parents had a lot of debt and she had to pay for two funerals so pretty much her parents f**ked themselves because after all that she wasn't left a penny, a missing sister - which I'm hoping Mr Sager aint setting up for a sequel - in any case I will not be reading it, a cheating, loser ex, and lastly Jules being one of the 10% to be cut at her workplace.... for real?? She is like 25/26?! This is A LOT of backstory to buy, especially someone so young. Yes, I know it can happen but it was for me too much.

Parts of this book were indeed thrilling but others were just eyeroll dull or problematic - I mean the part where

Jules escapes from the hospital and Greta sees her - the same person that has her kidney inside her and has benefited and colluded with this scheme and she just lets her escape because Jules mimes "please"... c'mon. That type of snakey character would have screamed out. Just bogus and frankly lazy storytelling because it then made it easy for Riley to have Jules be able to get away.

I would have liked more exploration of class, wealth and inequality; wealthy people being able to

jump the transplant queue and buy a heart, kidney, liver - whatever they need or to simply have access to proper healthcare. This already happens in the real world and I think it's a missed opportunity to have not teased out a little.

Btw finding out what was really going on that building was actually a relief compared to the weird path it was taking

I was like "nooooooo, not freakn satanic cult rubbish"... so when I read it was an organ stealing scheme I was like "phew" ;)

 the narrator is excellent - cannot fault her. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

claire_reardon's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

My third book by Riley Sager and my third time debating my own logic against the paranormal and true crime. Super satisfying ending, especially for Rufus. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

smckat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

After getting over the jarring pacing in the beginning, I could not put down the book. Parts of it were creepy, but I could see some twists that came later. However, the big twist was not seen.
I would say, if you like American Horror Story: Hotel, you might possibly like this book. It has similar vibes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

celina077's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

What a freaking book. Holy crap. I was SO into it. It's one of those books that you won't want to put down. It put me through a whirlwind. I'm happy to add Riley Sager to my list of authors that I will definitely go on to read their other books. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

chelbelle122's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

wickedgrumpy's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

1.0

What even was this?  I seriously have no words to describe how much I cannot even...

Why.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

aas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

scarlettreadsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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: Confinement, Death, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

gabi_715's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

zoeblair17's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment