Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

11 reviews

megan_wy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

There were a lot of plot twists in this book. I listened to it on audiobook, so it was a little confusing for me to visualize and follow all of the different characters in the town and many storylines. I enjoyed it, but the many plot lines and few plot holes threw me off at times. I wish they condensed it and chose one or two of the stories to follow as opposed to so many. Overall, it definitely was a dark thriller that I enjoyed. I just needed to take more mental notes to keep track of all the characters in the story and be less confused 🤣 I enjoyed Jack as a character, and learning about her truth at the end was a big shock! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia

_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Vomit, Stalking, and Pregnancy

clarkg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

While the story itself is compelling and well-written, this book has some serious problems with regards to its representations of Black, disabled, and queer people. There is a particularly gruesome depiction of Black, queer, low-income women that leans heavily on violent "welfare queen" stereotypes, made worse by the fact that the book has no positive examples of people of color in its main cast of characters. Additionally, this book contains a disability trope/storyline that I found to be in extremely poor taste. I believe in giving people grace and room to grow, but at least within the confines of this story, I wish that the author had been more mindful of how her choices work to reinforce harmful societal narratives about marginalized communities. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Dementia

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Vomit, and Car accident

saraellenme's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• 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, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

scburhans's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

 Walked into this book knowing nothing but the title, and boy was it a wild ride. Overall, I thought it was pretty good book, but there were some details that I felt uncomfortable with. I did find some of the elements to be rather predictable, but there were a few twists that surprised me. I thought there were a lot of great complex characters, however, there were still some really stereotypical, 2D characters as well, which was unfortunate.

** Spoilers Below **

The biggest thing I had an issue within this book was Ruby's family. It made me really uncomfortable that the first black and gay characters we get in the book are child abusers and murderers. While I don't think the racism and homophobia from this decision was intentional - I think it was in an attempt to introduce a discussion on unconscious biases - but it still did not read well at all. Having the villain of the story fake a disability also made me incredibly uncomfortable as a disabled person. There was a lot of covert, and I hope unintentional, ableism in the story. I did, however, enjoy the rest of the book, so I did decide to give the story 3.5 stars rather than just three. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mgordon3118's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

emilynicholls's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Torture, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Vomit

sunsetcity's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

npavitt's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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: Death, Pedophilia, Suicide, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Dementia, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment