Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

946 reviews

alycejanine's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse

annettegalbraith's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Dementia

brianag323's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse

elsuth's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

aujine's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

A long, intense read. The author makes you feel like you're IN the scenes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Addiction and Body shaming

elentiya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, and Murder

misha_ali's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This was my first Karen Slaughter (what a great name for writing in this genre) and I went in expecting a lot of torture porn (the book is about snuff films, the reviews mention it frequently as well) but honestly, there isn't as much gratuitous and explicit torture and sexual assault as I braced myself for, which is a good thing!

This started off promising enough for me with rich characterization, a couple of women who are clearly connected in some way and we'll get to peel back the layers of how, and a shocking murder. The bad news is that this very quickly veers off into a very lacklustre mystery that honestly doesn't offer much by way of twists since it's not exactly unique in its evilness. 

The villain(s) are also underdeveloped or at least not revealed as particularly developed, as well. In skilled hands, a character that is so two-faced that they have a perfect facade to everyone in their lives and a second, truer face that reveals their true depravity is interesting but when we just have secondhand accounts and not much exploration, this just sounds like disjointed characterization. 

There is a LOT of wasting time with the character that surprisingly not feeling any urgency and not in direct danger, which slows down a significant part of this book. Honestly, the whole last 40% was a bit of a slog, which is a bad sign for a mystery/thriller.

TL;DR: A decent start but loses stream part of the way through and not a strong finish.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Torture

ckozik1017's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

amynichole765's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

Read a TW list before reading this book! Don't do what I did, and go in blind. Seriously. I'm a little more dead inside after reading this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Stalking

hchmaybury's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, and Murder