Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

71 reviews

ksuppes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

rene_reads02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

I feel like this is the best thriller I’ve read in a while. Like a thriller that actually had twists and turns. This would make a great movie! A times the main character made me mad, but it was forgivable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

felixmarauder's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

This one was rough. The story was engaging and I wanted to keep reading; while at the same time I never wanted to pick it up again. The violence was too much for me and there are some images that will haunt me for a long while. I would have enjoyed this book more if the focus had been more on the mystery aspect, and less on the SA descriptions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicide, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

rahni_a's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

ashleyc78's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

No redeeming purpose to this book but to describe violence against women and pornography

the_pink_pharmacist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

I liked the underlying theme of female strength and I very much understood the feelings of being lied to and manipulated. Wondering who you could trust. 

There are some very intense descriptions of abuse. FYI if that is a trigger or trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Blood

lampbee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I can’t tell if i loved or hated this book. It’s very violent in its depictions, at some point it felt needless or even voyeuristic? I didn’t like that element of it especially given the whole plot of the book. The premise I feel was solid and I liked the execution it was just a lot more grim with a lot less payoff than I expected. However I liked the development and the twists not being predictable/trite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

The description of Lydia getting

waterboarded with paul’s piss

was a bit intense to the point of me not being sure what the purpose was. Obviously to show

that Paul is evil/irredeemable and is willing to sexually abuse Claire’s sister

but it felt gratuitous. The same I feel could be said for the description of the photos

I understand that gore was required to get their heinous crimes across but the description of the mutilated and cleaved girl hanging from barn rafters while blood-soaked and fully erect men posed for a photo was a lot to take in and I wonder how much detail was required to get the point across

. Maybe I just prefer for rape culture to be referenced or described on a more nuanced level and something of this level wasn’t going to hit — but at very least there can be no debate over whether the crime was “all that bad”. I will say though, I’m probably not the only one, by the end of the book

I was hoping Paul would have to endure some of the torture he doled out. He kept Julia alive for two weeks, I would’ve liked to see him have to endure something of that caliber not a strained but quick death in a forest.

I’m very uninterested in women not stooping to their attackers level , they need to get even, idc.

loudonuts's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

a gruesome story that was ultimately about the bond between sisters. it didn’t exceed my expectations but it was an okay thriller. at the beginning the hyper descriptive violence was shocking and intense, but by the end of it, it felt pretty gratuitous. was the aim to desensitise me, or was it just bad at keeping me engaged? unfortunately i’m not sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Infidelity

beegster16's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing, Fatphobia, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

uncouthsibyl's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

2.0

way way too much sexual violence and torture no thanks

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

kind of wish i hadn’t read