The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
janachigo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Stalking, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Body horror, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Gore, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Torture, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Body shaming and Dementia
amsswim's review
- 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? Yes
4.5
This was incredibly violent and graphic, so I'd recommend reading warnings before starting.Â
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Vomit, Child death, Death, Body horror, Drug use, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Misogyny, Car accident, Sexism, Classism, Dementia, and Medical content
Minor: Cannibalism
ellilo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I hate saying i enjoyed this because itâs not a nice topic to enjoy, but i just love dark and disgusting thriller and horror books. This book had me in a chokehold the past four days, and i barely find time to read so thatâs always a good thing about a book for me, fast-paced and packed with adventure so i donât want to stop reading.
Some of the turns in the story were weird and from the beginning you already know that the guy is bad, but you donât know about the extent of the cruelty. That was weird for me because iâm used to not knowing who the killer is, in this book it was rather the question who you can trust and whatâs the truth.Â
The ending made me cry, but i have to be honest and i feel really weird saying this:Â
I heard this book was SO disgusting and graphic, and of course, there were some scenes that made me a bit uncomfortable but iâve read worse. I donât think that itâs the description that makes it disgusting, but rather the topic.Â
I still enjoyed this book! It wasnât as cruel as i thought it would be and at the same time it was worse. But in a good way.Â
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Murder, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Hate crime, Child death, Stalking, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Alcoholism, Dementia, Eating disorder, Vomit, Car accident, Body shaming, and Excrement
ladyeowyns's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Trafficking, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Murder, Biphobia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, and Gaslighting
Minor: Pedophilia and Dementia
thatswhatshanread's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Claire and Lydia, estranged sisters brought back together by another tragedy, embark on a journey almost twenty-five years old as new clues come to light about their older sister, Julia, who went missing when she was nineteen and was never found. Nothing is as it seems as present begins to connect rather ominously with the past.
This was my first Karin Slaughter book and man, did it deliver. Itâs definitely a very dark book that seems to get darker with each shocking turn, not shying away from grisly facts or chilling thoughts. The writing was intense, fast-paced, evocative. Slaughterâs words made the story so vivid and realistic, my heart pounding the whole way through as if I were one of Juliaâs sisters, too.Â
If youâre a fan of Gillian Flynn, youâll also devour this one. I found their writing styles quite similar and engaging.
I loved the way this story played out, the different story arcs that came to fruition. Of course, the subject matter is even more sinister then youâd imagine out the gate, but it was used so well in this one.Â
I suspect I will be thinking of this book for a long time!!Â
Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Alcoholism, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Addiction, Gore, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Excrement, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, and Gun violence
Minor: Body horror
erica_reads_things's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Car accident, Drug use, Infidelity, Stalking, Suicide, Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Classism, Fatphobia, and Dementia
abbymackenzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Stalking, Blood, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Gore, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Dementia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Grief
taylers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Excrement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Gun violence
Moderate: Stalking, Kidnapping, Addiction, Body shaming, Car accident, Drug use, Dementia, Vomit, Sexual content, Infidelity, and Eating disorder
Graphic descriptions of rape, torture, murder, and mutilation.triple_m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Iâll start with the cons because there are few: The chapters written to Julia from the dad can drag. Not even because theyâre boring but the chapters with Claire and Lydia are so interesting that youâre tempted to skip ahead. And this is petty, but
This book is very graphic, which for me is a good thing, I enjoy novels with graphic content. That being said, the only graphic books I have read have been written by men and I donât know if I can ever go back. Itâs hard for me to describe but I could just tell this book was written by a woman (big positive). The moment you think the situation couldnât get any more deprived, it does.Â
Claire and Lydia are both arguably shitty people, or do put it tastefully I would say theyâre both complex and flawed characters. Theyâve experienced a significant amount of trauma so it makes sense that theyâve had a difficult time adjusting to life.Â
Loved the book and was very satisfied with the ending.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Body horror, Torture, and Rape
Moderate: Suicide and Drug abuse
Minor: Body shaming and Dementia
perplexed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
I will say now that there might be some spoilers in this review, and I'll flag them, but proceed with caution. Also TW: I reference SA and violence in this review
There were elements of this book I loved. The whole idea of "how well do you really know someone" is a trope I love to see explored, and this book started off doing that really well. I also really loved the main characters, Claire and Lydia, and part of the reason I finished the book was because I wanted to make sure they got out of their shenanigans okay.
That being said, so much of this book felt like gratuitous detail. I get that you want to make it clear how brutal something is, but you could get that without needing to graphically describe acts of SA and torture. I love body horror and gore, but the repeated graphic descriptions were *a lot* and I really recommend giving this book a skip if you're effected by any of the trigger warnings mentioned on these reviews.Â
Also, shout out to the fact that either Claire or Karin Slaughter thinks that TOR is an illegal file sharing site. Very much legal, it's just a browser like Google Chrome but it doesn't track you, so I think TOR is actually the real good guy in this book.Â
PS. Dad if you're reading this hello, please don't judge me for the books I've been reading recently, I've been on a kick of gross books ever since American Psycho but none seem to scratch the itch of violence with a message and they've all just landed on gratuitous violence instead :-( onto a Christmas romance novel next though so, bet you can't wait for that review!Â
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Death, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship