Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Keep It In The Family by John Marrs

22 reviews

killmoore_'s review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a solid read by a solid author - freakin love John. 

Knocked off a few points because I was sorely disappointed to have figured out the big twist early on, but it didn't take away from the roller coaster ride of reveals that lies within the pages. There was not a single likeable character in this entire book, and I loved it. 

Hashtag justice for george.

Heavy content matter. Read your trigger warnings if that's your thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

caitlinteresa's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Mood: Whaaaat did I just read???

Okay, I've read a few John Marrs books now, and I think this one is the creepiest so far. I had such a hard time getting past some of the topics in this book. 

I do think there's a few things that don't make total dense to me, and at times I felt it was a bit of a stretch with where the story was going... but ummm the twist??? 🤯

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Alcoholism

abbeylamey's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

4.5 ⭐️ 

This was the book version of a Criminal Minds episode! I loved that I was constantly on my toes and wondering what was going to happen next. Some books that switch from past to present each chapter end up losing me, but the author did a great job with the transitions. I often read books that require a lot of “thinking”, so this was a good palette cleanse! I found myself unable to put it down on several occasions. 

I would recommend this book to a friend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Eating disorder, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

melmertsis's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

ratchel_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

What in the twisted mindf*ck did I just read… 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Torture, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

sharlapeggy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

It was okay. As far as turn twisting thrillers go, this was okay. The concept was dark (as you would expect) but it was a bit predictable in places. 

WWW: 
- I liked Mia, and the house renovation project
- set in Milton Keynes!!
- A character called Mrs Dennison… (my teacher name is Miss Bennison) 
- Interesting, dark concept

EBI
- A bit predictable
- wasn’t massively enamoured with the characters
- the ending was expected

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bhahnert's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Car accident

aleen_elizabeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

melle_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

As the narrative is first-person and is shared between the main cast of characters, the characters themselves will heavily affect whether you will like this book. I found that their flaws and conflicts with each other were all rather surface-level rather than developed and realistic, which turned me off to liking them or finding them very compelling. There wasn’t any substantial groundwork laid for the final “twist” at the very end either, so to me it felt like a disappointing cop-out more than a proper shock. The twists and turns that led to the climax and third act were exciting though, and did keep me reading. It was only $2 for Kindle so all in all it was worth my time! 3.75 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Torture, Blood, and Pregnancy

Minor: Domestic abuse, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

The main female character and her husband’s marital struggles are central to the book from start to finish. The main conflict is their difficulty with conceiving, and then after

they have their miracle baby,

the wife

experiences post-partum depression and difficulty

kait9414's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Another great one by John Marrs! Loved this book. Kept me on my toes and I can genuinely say I didn’t guess it until it was right in front of me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic