Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

28 reviews

isotope_s's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-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

2.5

It was pretty compelling and kept me on the seat of my chair. Though I was surprised Libby's paternity doesn't come up at all as a factor of this story. Rachel maybe was my favorite part of this book. Her inner thoughts were most interesting to me.

I'm pretty disappointed with the ending. I don't think it's realistic Henry wouldn't have done something to Phinn; just because Henry learned Phinn was just as insecure as he was and that Phinn hadn't been running from him all these years but Lucy and Libby--I don't think it's very realistic to say that he would have had an immediate change of heart. 

The fact that he's looking for someone else to imitate is somewhat compelling to me, but it wasn't as nearly as good as the twist at the end of the book. In the end it just felt like the ending was inappropriate for the tone of the book like: "and everyone lived happily ever after" or something like that.

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natalya_c14's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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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norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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brynhayes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0


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jacs63's review against another edition

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

2.0

** spoiler alert ** I was told by someone that this wasn't very good, and boy, were they right. 
It was truely awful and so disappointing, as so many people rave about Lisa Jewell.
I borrowed this one from the library and saved my money, and I'm glad I did. 
I read in the 'Acknowledgements' that she wasn't going to write a sequel, but she gave in to pressure from her fans. Well, she needs to develop a back-bone.

I gave the book 2 stars, just for the fact that I am sure LJ can write. I'm just not sure that this is her best work. 

The first book was 'good'. A bit over-hyped, as all books are these days, with pages and pages of adulation from other famous authors and social media people. 
I was mildly underwhelmed though, but thought it was 'ok.' A different type of story, but it went on a bit. 

This book is so much worse. 
Nothing actually happens in it. 
It's so BORING. 
So many plot holes. 
Interpol are a bit 'pants', aren't they? Knowing all about Lucy and Henry etc but letting them travel back to the UK on false passports, and doing nothing. 
Rachel's character was a waste of good paper. 
I only read the book really, because her most intriguing character in the first book, Phin, might make an appearance. Except he doesn't. Not till the last 2 chapters or so. And he does nothing. What a wasted opportunity. 
LJ introduces a new character, with the Detective investigating the case, but even he can't save the story. He's so under-written. 
There's one suicide from a secondary character, who does it to save another character. 
There is a character who rapes someone, but this isn't new. He did it in the last book. 
And.........nothing else. 

I can't believe anyone gave this 4 or 5 stars, but then again there no accounting for taste, as they say. 
My recommendation is, give it a miss. It's awful.

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rochelleisreading's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0


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rosewhybx's review against another edition

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

3.0


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helloits_jen's review against another edition

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

3.5

A really quick and mostly easy read. Didn’t enjoy it anywhere as much as the first one though and didn’t really get a sense of the story being ‘complete’. 

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readingwithtaco's review

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

3.0


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manonschuur's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No

3.5

Ik vond het boek minder leuk dat het eerste boek omdat je al weet wat er gebeurd is waardoor het boek op sommige vlakken wel voorspelbaar werd. Er zaten wederom meerdere verhaallijnen in die aan het einde samen kwamen alleen aan het begin snapte ik de functie van 1 verhaallijn niet helemaal die ging over iemand die buiten de familie stond, maar getrouwd was met de ex-man van Lucy. Aan het einde werd het wel duidelijk waarom die verhaallijn nodig was, maar ze hadden hele delen van die verhaallijn kunnen schrappen en nog had het verhaal logisch gebleven. Verder was de helft van t boek ook over iedereen zoekt iedereen en steeds ontweken ze elkaar en dat was wel een beetje boring. Vond het einde van het boek eigenlijk pas leuk worden. Verder zaten er zaten wel een aantal shockers in het boek waardoor het niet volledig voorspelbaar was, maar waarvan 1 echt onverwachts kwam. Had het einde alleen niet zo verwacht en ik weet niet of ik het zelf zo had laten eindigen... Over het algemeen vind ik het wel een leuke toevoeging waardoor het verhaal wel compleet werd. 

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