Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart

16 reviews

lizzieinmt's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I was skeptical to read this since I found Alaina throigh the podcast. But her writing was so rich and her descriptions so vivid and well chosen I found myself completely engrossed and forgetting this wasn't a real case. I also wasn't able to guess the plot twists before they happened, which was a welcome change in thrillers. Additionally I appreciated how much reallife info from being an autopsy tech she was able to put in, it made the case feel very reakistic. Would absolutely recommend to fans of Morbid or of crime novels generally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Torture, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking

rainbowcerberus's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

beckyremillard's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Animal death

stephwtsn27's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

uncorkedthriller's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book has been on my list for awhile as I listen to true crime podcasts. When my #thrilledobsessedbuddyread picked it for this for this month’s book, I knew it was the perfect time to read it. 

Let me say it sucked me in from the beginning. It is a relatively short book at 242 pages, so I sped through it. It was also recommended to me to listen to the audio, which didn’t disappoint. The audio made it for me. They both took on their prospective parts and really enhanced the book, in my opinion. 

I’m usually pretty good at picking out the “twists” before they come, but this one still threw me. I was close, just not on point. So I was surprised to say the least. I love when authors can throw me off and surprise me! 

I did remove a star for two reasons, one being that it just abruptly ends. I’m not sure if this is setting it up for a second book, but I didn’t expect it to just end. The other reason, is strictly my opinion. The reason I was thrown was based on timelines. To not spoil anything for anyone, I won’t go into details, but when you read it you may understand. 

All in all, I enjoyed this book. It had the thriller aspect i enjoy and it had an added mix with Wren’s approach as the ME. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 ⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

ashnicter's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I was excited about this book as a listener of Morbid Podcast. 

Plot: 5 stars. It felt like an exciting episode of Criminal Minds. It seemed to have some grounding in reality given the author’s background as an autopsy tech. There were some really engrossing moments and fun twists. I finished it in one sitting. 

Characters: 2.5 stars. It’s okay. I would have loved to understand more about the characters. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of diversity with the main characters. As for the secondary characters, it’s unclear. There seems to be one LGBTQIA+ character. Given the setting, having more built out characters that don’t leave the readers wondering about their backgrounds would have helped with character development. It’s especially distracting given the rich diversity of New Orleans. 

Writing: 2 stars. The dialogue is choppy and the writing could use some polish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Panic attacks/disorders