Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis

9 reviews

readingradie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Mindy McGinnis does it again and once more, I need to lay flat on my back to process this. Please read this duology cause holy shit, she had me screaming in my kitchen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Okay, I checked this out from the library as soon as I finished the first one, and I will say this was a pretty great sequel. A lot of my questions from the first book were answered and had me going "wtf WTF" throughout. 
There were some gross/gruesome parts so check some content/trigger warnings. 
I overall liked the ending as well even though it made me a little sad. What I was hoping for didn't happen, but it's okay.

closure is better than nothing, but I would've liked to see tress and felicity rebuild their friendship knowing/understanding that what they both did was due to trauma. I'm glad Rue was able to be saved and go with Tress to build a new/different life as well

 I need to read more from this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Dementia

grays_opinion's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

One of the narrators is an absolute incel.

trashboatwinter's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

emeraldelephant's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was intense!  Not only was the plot even crazier as a continuation of The Initial Insult but it delivered on many fronts.  It's also pretttttyyy gory and gross.  I have a decently strong stomach but some descriptions were A LOT to listen to/read.  I didn't have strong feelings about Ribbit in TII but man he pissed me off in this one.  He always seemed weak and passive but he flipped that and became kind of evil.  To be fair, he was bullied pretty badly for a while and he wants revenge on the popular kids.  But the manner of his revenge was harsh.  Tress, bless her, she tried so hard in this book.  And yes, she made up for a lot.  She's a very interesting character to read from and follow and I'm really glad I finished this duology.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

poppyseedromance's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Excrement, Dementia, and Classism

eeeeva's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Drug use

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexism, Vomit, Dementia, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Death of parent

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this to review! In all honesty, this kind of horror isn't necessarily my favorite genre. But, I read The Initial Insult last year and had to know how this story ended. In true Mindy McGinnis style, you're in for an absolutely wild ride.

This book picks up immediately where the first one leaves off, with no interruption in the events happening. What I found useful in this book is McGinnis includes the days everything is happening, becuase it would be easy to forget how much time is passing. Especially becuase for parts of the story, Tress is in a state of delirium. As she unravels the complete story, you'll figure out the mystery right along with her. Needing to know why all of this is happening in this town.

Did the ending seem a little far-fetched? Yes, but also so does the rest of the story. So, it kind of fits. I will say, if you get queasy at descriptions of gore or infected wounds, you might want to avoid this one. Because there are some very gruesome descriptions in this book. Like, I had to skip a few sections because I just couldn't do it.

I know the first book was a Poe story re-telling (I don't remember which one), but there are a lot of nods to Poe in general throughout this book. If you are an Edgar Allen Poe fan, I'm sure you would have a great time trying to find all the Easter eggs. Those are masterfully done!

Honestly, I feel like if you know Mindy McGinnis, you know what you're getting into when you pick up this book. She manages to keep the reader on their toes, and this is a dark, gruesome book that should definitely make it on your YA horror lists! 
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Is this a great ending to this duology? Absolutely, yes. Should you read it if you have a squeamish stomach? Probably not. That was absolutely a wild ride, stay tuned for a full review to come later this week!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gore

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, and Murder

Minor: Drug use