Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

314 reviews

madgirl421's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

This is the most disturbing book I have ever read.

devinjai6655's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

This book surprised me. When I saw it was a 20 hour audio book (including the short story Blond Hair, Blue Eyes), I was a bit hesitant due to having other audio books on loan and told myself I'd give it till halfway, then see how I felt. It's slow in the beginning, but really ramps up and then punches you in the face at that halfway mark. Look for those trigger warnings because there was something I was still reeling about today after I got through listening to most of it last night.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Excrement

So there's a part towards the end where

one character is chained up with a bag over her head and she is being basically waterboarded with urine

. There's plenty of other stuff, but this caught me so off guard.

lbyars99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

katelyn_beee's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

4.5

Very dark. Like an SVU episode x10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

lattelibrarian's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Holy SHIT. This book is not for the faint of heart. Recommended via a hate review for another book (that says that Slaughter's book deals with the subject of pornography and underground snuff rings in a much better way), I decided to take my chances. Pretty Girls did not disappoint.

From fraught family relationships to murder to addiction, this book deals with many difficult topics in addition to snuff pornography. Slaughter handles them very well and uses them to create tension and twists that will keep you reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Kidnapping, and Grief

weatherd's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

princess_marie's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicide, and Alcohol

fi_sandison's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

stacydelgaudio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

mariahlynnpeck's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

4.25

Wow this book literally keeps you on your toes. I could never guess what was coming next. Though there is a lot of trigger warnings it was a pretty good thriller and kept me invested. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail