Reviews tagging 'Murder'

She Started It by Sian Gilbert

126 reviews

mandajo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I enjoy having plot twists I didn't see coming. This book is not like that; it was pretty easy to figure out what was going to happen early on. My mom and I read it together and we guessed everything right. 
Even with the predictability, I still really enjoyed this book and it kept my interest. It gives me if Mean Girls was a thriller vibes. Look for trigger warnings though before reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Murder, and Toxic friendship

molhog93's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The characters were all similar so the point of view switching was confusing. None of the characters had any lieable characteristics. 2 stars for wanting to keep reading just to find out what happened

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Murder

Moderate: Self harm and Suicide

erinmichele_reads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Excrement

amberslibrarycard's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

In "She Started It" by Sian Gilbert, a group of friends embarks on an extravagant bachelorette party for an old "friend", only to have hidden secrets and betrayals emerge, turning the trip into a perilous ordeal. As the suspense builds, they are forced to face their past and the unsettling truths that threaten to unravel their lives. I found this book to be very middle of the road. The concept was very fresh, but the execution was a little bit of a miss for me. I found the foreshadowing to be too much, I knew the big twist before they happened which destroyed most of the excitement for me. For example, the big reveal by Poppy was very obvious to me

As soon as Poppy mentioned in diary that Wendy wanted to pursue medicine, I know that it was Wendy and not Poppy on the island. Also, the lack of a body made it obvious to me that Poppy wasn't dead.

. Also, the "accomplice" revealed at the end was not a surprise. For me, it took too long to get some of Poppy's perspective through her diary entries. I was initially turned off by Poppy's behavior at the island because I didn't have the right connection to Poppy's character at that point. I will say that I really liked the end of the book, starting around chapter 32 it picked up in quality to me. I thought the final chapters were really good, even if the initial story was too drawn out for my taste. Not bad if you want something mysterious but easy to read. 

Be warned, this book does tough on some sensitive topics! I didn't know that but thankfully they were not triggers for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Murder

amanda_mh's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

That was a good book! I wasn’t sure at first and then the twisted nature of all these women hooked me it kinda felt like people on a reality show.  I liked how we slowly got pieces of the past and as things were revealed in the present. Some very intense and shocking moments, not a book I’d usually pick up but it was an option for BOTM so thought why not. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

angelarae235's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Excrement, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

rgetch06's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Self harm, and Murder

ivykennerauthor's review against another edition

mysterious tense

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Lesbophobia

daydaybookbay's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I rated this book an 8 out of 10. I made a note after reading page 124 where I had figured out the rest of the book. Even with this, I was pulled in and wanted to keep reading. Somewhat unbelievable at points where I would poke plot holes, but overall enjoyable story.

The flashbacks are told through Poppy's diary entries. This was effective and gives the reader a more personal feeling, but I don't really buy into it. As a preteen or teenager, there's no way she's writing like this. Too many quotes, too many details. I would imagine this more as a transcript from a therapy meeting.

There are so many secrets hidden and exposed. With how messy it gets, it might be helpful to write down who is whispering what to who. Then, when the truth comes out, you know where we are. I almost went back just to make sure there wasn't some extra loose end hanging around

The driving force for this novel: DRAMA! Really, the suspense isn't in play. You know the twists. It's the little pieces of exposed drama. It's the wonder of what they did to still be stuck on it a decade later. You're pulled in because you want the inside scoop.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Biphobia, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Stalking

bnhunt's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I listened to the audiobook which I think helped keep the characters straight. There are 5 main characters, all female, and each chapter is a different POV from them so it can get confusing to keep their stories straight. Although I predicted the main twist early on, this book was riveting. I kept wanting to hurry to find out what would happen next. The flashbacks from Poppy’s diary are absolutely heartbreaking and the author does a great job bringing in all the emotions throughout. I would definitely read more from this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction