Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

12 reviews

lindzboots's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

That was exquisite. So intriguing, so unsettling and disturbing, so excellent. The characters were all detailed and wonderful (or infuriating, depending, or both), the plot and the mystery so well-crafted, and the atmosphere incredibly creepy. The writing was absolutely wonderful - perfectly descriptive and constantly evoking just the right images and emotions. Really, really well done. The perfect read for spooky season or the early part of winter! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Classism

shedevls's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

i don’t think st. james can do any wrong. if she writes a book, you can bet i’m going to read and love every word of it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and War

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

tiffany_bush's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Drug abuse

colourado's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

muse692's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage

rescuemama97's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

alliedelexa'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

my first book by Simone St. James and it didn’t disappoint. admittedly, it took me 3/4 of the book to really get invested. i enjoyed the dual timelines and the ending. i could’ve done without the love story because they generally feel forced but i understand the need to entangle the past with the present in this book. i found all the flashbacks incredibly interesting and i always looked forward to those point of views. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Antisemitism

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Gaslighting

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

Told in dual timelines, The Broken Girls is the story of four best friends at a remote boarding school for troubled teens, and a journalist trying to learn buried details of her sister’s murder.

I love a good ghost story, and Simone St. James writes some of the best. The Sun Down Motel remains one of my all time favorites thrillers, and I really enjoyed The Book of Cold Cases earlier this year, so I was super excited to get my hands on The Broken Girls this spooky season. Overall I really enjoyed it—the themes of female friendship and empowerment were really meaningful to me, and I particularly loved the underlying message about the importance of telling stories and not erasing women’s trauma.

I will say that I ultimately wanted a little more from the plot, which sometimes felt a bit disconnected to me, and I wish there had been a bigger twist or two. Still, the creepy boarding school vibes and hauntingly (pun very intended) beautiful writing definitely make this a top notch recommendation for this time of year!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: ghost stories; stories about uncovering and healing from trauma; dual timeline thrillers

CW: Death/murder/attempted murder (including of a child); grief; sexual assault/rape; traumatic brain injury; mentions of anti-semitism/Nazism/concentration camps; mentions of PTSD/suicide/suicide attempt; miscarriage/stillbirth.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

shannananahey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Antisemitism

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, and Child death

shelleys_shelf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.5

Simone St. James has proved again why she is one of my favorite authors. It's the perfect combination of a ghost story mixed with a cold case mystery. This story gave me "Woman in Black" vibes from the way Mary Hand is described. The big reveal in the last couple of chapters did feel a little underwhelming to me, but it was still pretty good. Can't wait to read the rest of this author's backlist! 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and War