Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

33 reviews

reallycooper's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence

abijoyceshaw's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

2.75

The premise of a mystery novel within a mystery novel is interesting on a surface level. I enjoyed watching the secondary narrative unravel. The novel seemed to be building toward two climatic reveals, but I found the culmination of both narratives dissatisfying. The characters were fairly interesting, but they weren’t given enough depth for me to get attached.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

ladylothlorien's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.75

So good! I was intrigued to see where the epistolary element would really come into play. At first I was super into the “story within the story” plot line and then I absolutely had to know where the epistolary plot line was going! I had kind of guessed the end of both plot lines ahead of time but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment. I’m so happy to find this author has written a bunch of other books because now I am absolutely going to read her back catalog!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Racism and Sexual violence

The racism and sexual violence are brief mentions and are not very detailed. The murder descriptions are mainly what you would expect from a murder mystery but on a few occasions there are brief somewhat graphic descriptions.

sammykay25's review against another edition

dark mysterious

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

3.5

I feel pretty neutral towards this book. I liked the writing a lot and the way there were dueling plots. But some things irked me like Marigold and Whit. They were both obnoxious, a little ridiculous, and Marigold was downright creepy. I could tell I was supposed to like them and I simply couldn't stand either of them. I also was able to predict the ending pretty easily so it kinda fell flat for me. But I didn't quite understand the last sentence which was intriguing. Overall, mostly fun with some annoyances.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Medical content, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, and Classism

rmgiannino's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

bumblero's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

I thought the meta-narrative was intriguing. It helped me appreciate some of the subtleties that I missed but also made me question the three layers of story going on at once. Definitely kept me on my toes!

Would recommend! Likeable cast of characters, a decent sense of place, and I enjoyed how self-aware the book was. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Gaslighting

acosyreader's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: Stalking

schausjk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This took me a little while to get into, mostly because I find books about authors/writing irritating. However, as the story went on and the purpose of the little editorial bits became apparent I enjoyed it a lot more.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Stalking and Death of parent

j_emerson18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

What a great book to start the year. It was inspirational and well written.  I love the plot twists near the end. The writing style was super intriguing. I loved the story with the four unlikely friends in the midst of a murder. **spoiler warning**
I am honestly a little upset by the lack of depth or detail about the secondary story between two writers in which one is a serial killer. I would have loved more information about the two of them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content and Grief