Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

9 reviews

moyarb's review

challenging dark 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

3.25

I did love the setting and how isolated it felt. It set the mood and the last 20 chapters or so were enjoyable. Unfortunately, this was too slow for me (It's 60 chapters plus an epilogue!), but I think if I didn't go in expecting a whodunnit and seeing the reviews on the back cover comparing it to Agatha Christie, I probably would've enjoyed it more. This wasn't a murder mystery, but more like a domestic drama with some suspense sprinkled at the end. The characters were either very unlikable or boring, and the ending wasn't satisfying. Of the trope about a group of longtime friends who secretly hate each other, this was the weakest. 

Earlier this year, I read The Paris Apartment which is Lucy Foley's most recent work and the first book of hers I read.  I loved The Paris Apartment, but having read The Hunting Party and the preview of The Guest List, Foley's mysteries are pretty much the same format: Multiple POVs set back and forth in time during the present and the time leading up to the present and I suppose it all depends on execution because I think The Paris Apartment was more engaging and had a good blend of the drama and the mystery. At least it showed that Foley improved on her formula. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Outing

hauntedboi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Classism

orndal's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

throwback682's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

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

3.75

I’d never read a book like this. Not only is the identity of the murderer a secret for a long time, so is the identity of the victim. It definitely kept me guessing until the very end.

I thought the twist/murderer/motive was kind of corny and definitely ableist (mentally ill villain trope). But the rest of the book was so well crafted that it didn’t really ruin it for me somehow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Stalking, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Child death and Sexual content

vaguely_pink'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

cheerfully_chaotic_leo's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

thefaultismine's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.0

The tired trope of the mentally ill one being the killer, esp when it's confirmed she has a personality disorder, really tampered my enjoyment of this book. I'm tired of reading about people like me being the violent perpetrators in a surprising twist ending, while most times the only people we are in danger of hurting is ourselves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Fun ride, disappointing ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

golem's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No

4.0

So, the audiobook is great. It's just wonderfully entertaining, the actors are delightful, the different accents and voices are pitch-perfect (except for the American accent, which--at least there isn't much of it), it's totally atmospheric and suspenseful. As a book, IDK. The POV characters are the four straight white women and the hunky gamekeeper; the book seems very, very interested in the inner lives of posh white women but not too imaginative about what animates those lives (basically, body issues, class issues, men and sexual jealousy). There are some queer characters and a woman of colour (all of whom seem fairly interesting, if not very nice), but they are background. The plot twists and solution are, to my mind, quite predictable. Still--listen to the audiobook. It's definitely fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse