Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

56 reviews

semonnie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Blood, and Death of parent

lmayfieldx's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.0

“‘𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬’”

🍦 first person
🍦 multiple pov
🍦 multiple timelines
🍦 similar crime
🍦 connected strangers
🍦 short chapters
🍦 fast paced

on new year’s eve in 1999 at blockbuster, four teenagers were working and attacked. only one survived. fast forward 15 years & this is happening all over again at an ice cream shop in the same town, with one person surviving…again

amid solving the latest crime, three strangers cross paths - the survivor from the blockbuster attack, the brother of the accused suspect, and fbi agent, sarah keller. how & why do their lives connect? will they be able to get to the bottom of this mystery?

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this book was really good! i loved the short chapters & how fast paced it was. it was entertaining & very attention grabbing early on in the book!

it was interesting to see how the dynamic of the connection of the three main characters unfolded. i also liked the parallels between the timeline in 1999 & present day

i did not see this ending coming, which i really enjoyed! i am pretty good at guessing the plots of mystery/thrillers, so sometimes they fall short for me in that way. this one did not!

this was my first book i’ve read by alex finlay. i have a couple of other books of his on my tbr & i’m excited to read them eventually 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Bullying, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

mrsmishler's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Pregnancy

jessthemess8112's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I really enjoyed this book, but the ending was a bit anticlimactic. The author spent this whole book building and building to this big whodunit mystery, and the big reveal left a lot to be desired and a lot of unanswered questions.  Whatever happened to Mr. Nirvana, and why was he even mentioned except to throw you off? Did anything happen to Arpeggio and the other cop for leaving a major detail out of a report? Did Chris get any compensation for the fact that his brother was wrongly accused for 15 years? And of course, how did Steadman convince straight and narrow religious freaked family Katie to even get involved in the first place?  I rounded up to 3 stars because I enjoyed the mystery, but the unanswered questions kind of ruined it for me.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

jpfortmiller's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Child abuse

jocelynmwagner's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

ransomrayne's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Physical abuse and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

sgrifgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide and Stalking

chloebear21's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Suicide

dodgeremerson's review against another edition

dark 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

Not the worst book, but it was very predictable. I called the killer from their introduction, as well as the other deaths that we discover early on. Kind of disappointing.

Also...

I am really frustrated that the promising young brown kid was killed off. He is the only death outside of the murders, and the only death "on the page." Why is the only POC mentioned the only death? Granted, it was clear he was going to die from the moment Finlay introducedhis mother with that "take care of my boy" line. But it is still irritating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Stalking, Abortion, and Death of parent