Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia

15 reviews

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Sadly, this book doesn't work: the writing is clunky, the main character never felt authentic to me, the setup (of her working with the cops) doesn't make any sense, and many of the things she does don't either (she's also constantly getting drunk and hardly sleeps, so maybe her terrible judgement is not that surprising). But the worse part is that we're told who the killer is in the middle of the book and everything that happens after that makes even less sense...

Other reviewers claim the killer was foreshadowed early in the book, but I thought the reveal came out of nowhere.

And then the ending is such a letdown. Ugh. I really wanted to like this book so much, but really I should have DNFed it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Infidelity and Stalking

adiajamille's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

After so much build up, the ending felt abrupt. But overall it was an intriguing story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hailstorm3812's review

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

3.75

This has such great characters and vibes that it carries it through a lackluster mystery. I love Louise and her friends and journey, and the rich painting the author set. I do wish structurally the second half had gotten another editing pass. It started to feel like things were just happening without adding more to the mystery or raising the stakes.

I really don't think Celia had to die. Louise was already desperate to stop him and on to him, and didn't need extra motivation and her ouiji plan was so odd. I feel like we set up some mystery around Celia's boy and Josie's disappearances and her original kidnapping that we were going to play into but didn't. I think kidnapping one or both of the twins would have been better to up the stakes.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol

heather667's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Torture

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and War

venusdapoopiehead's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

i could definitely tell that this was a debut novel, the writing felt very simplistic, and even a little flat at times. there was also some times where the author seemed to do more telling not showing, rather than showing not telling, which isn’t to say her writing was bad-i just think the author’s writing style is very typical for a new writer to have, however i definitely think she has room to grow and i might give her other books a try to see if her writing style may have improved. but overall tho, good story, good plot, just good, don’t really have much complaints. i loved the characters and they way they’re written, and even if the twist at the end was kind of predictable (atleast it was for me, cause sometimes i tend to somehow perfectly predict what’s gonna happen in a book) i still liked it. if you’re looking for a nice book that you can read when you just wanna turn your brain off and relax without thinking too deeply, this might be it for you. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Cursing and Alcohol

kendal_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Torture and Death of parent

gothnailcare's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

2.0

I so wanted to like this book. The characters were lovable and I admired the author's dedication to describing clothes and social spaces, but the book's pacing and the shifts in narrative style worked against the story, page after page. I am not the kind of mystery reader who makes demands of the author with regards to who knows what & when they're given the agency to figure it out. Is the reader given information to determine who the killer is before the detective? Or does the detective know something the reader doesn't? Whatever the answer, I am usually happy to be along for the ride and observing at any distance as long as the narrative plays these cards well, but I can't say I felt this book succeeded.

Additionally, there were a number of loose ends I assumed would be tied up at the end of the book, but explanations for these never materialized. I have to assume that some of this is done for the purpose of setting up the next book. But if I'm not sure whether a book is setting up a second novel or whether it's littered with red herrings, well...

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, and Police brutality

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Rape, Stalking, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

agiali's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

*:･ﾟ175/ 108 

This novel had a really strong start but ended up losing me for the last 75%. I didn't guess the twist, but once the main scene happened it fell so flat. It wasn't as epic as a normal built-up climax would be, and a lot of questions were left unanswered. I am aware this is going to be a series so perhaps more will be answered in book two. I don't have plans on reading it, but it was a lot easier to get through than most readers have said. The writing didn't bother me as much as I anticipated, since that is the main critique in most reviews, and I found it a pretty quick read as well. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Racism and Kidnapping

Minor: Racial slurs and Death of parent

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Violence, and Death of parent

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent