Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

17 reviews

_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

stellenelcielo's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

ngl I started reading this in 2021 and then stopped halfway because life decided to get traumatizing for no reason...but yeah, decided only to finish it because I picked up another book by this author about vampires in Alaska, that I found out in the wild (walmart) and felt I needed to finish this one first. 

I did enjoy finishing it, but felt a lot was going on. I vibed with it anyway, and my only real (minor) criticism is that

Rosie also being a psychopath felt like it came out of left field

, and it was a real missed opportunity to

make Wrigley the sole psychopath, mirroring the online alt-right, misogynistic and incel culture that seems to nurture sociopathy in teenage boys.

I was not prepared for that final reveal, but I mostly chalk that up to taking more than a year to finish the book so my memory of the finer details is a bit fuzzy. Anyway, yeah, was a solid entertaining read, and I look forward to 'The Gathering', which has been waiting on my shelf for the last week.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship

rachelfayreads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Outing

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

lindseylosers's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Outing

ripxreads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse and Stalking

readbycarey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Stalking

mysterymom40's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

graphic scenes, even with teen characters; lots of cursing and what could be read as blasphemy to some; biblical interpretation and views shared by religious persons; ghost-like appearances

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

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