Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Agathas by Liz Lawson, Kathleen Glasgow

49 reviews

edhyndman's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Murder

amibo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Violence, Abandonment, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol and Death of parent

libscote's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

Alice Ogilvy disappeared for a few days last summer, and her town of Castle Cove hasn't treated her the same way since. One night, a former friend of Alice's disappears, and it takes a little while for the police to believe something is up because of Alice's prior disappearance. But she knows something is wrong, and she and her new friend/tutor Iris are going to figure this thing out.

I liked the friendship between Iris and Alice, as we see prickly Iris start to let her guard down and notice some things about Alice that Alice would probably prefer to keep hidden. I thought I had gotten spoiled for the book by reading some other reviews, but it turned out I had interpreted things incorrectly, so that was fun. I fell for red herrings! This book reminded me a bit of Dead End Girls, but I think I liked this one more. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

nastyabbj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Classism, Death, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, and Violence

jillkaarlela's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny 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

This was a super fun ya murder mystery detective story! I liked the dual pov from these two completely different characters and their unlikely friendship over solving a murder together. I also liked how it was a small town and each girl was from a completely different group/social class, showing small town dynamics between the rich and poor. Additionally, all of the side characters were so loveable and unique, and I would be interested to see more of the side characters (like Spike, Zora, and Neil) in future books. I also loved how focused it was on Agatha Christie, which added a lot of fun moments for those of us mystery lovers! I think that the murder mystery part was well organized and well thought out. I could predict a few things, but overall there were quite a few shocking twists and turns! I think I’m still partial to the Truly Devious series and anything by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, but I thought this one was great as well! The ending made it seem like this would be continued as a series, and I would definitely like to read more books if they are released. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it! 

Age rating: 14+ (violence, language, no sexual content) 

TW: domestic and child abuse!!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Violence, and Domestic abuse

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.25

And why was it not sapphic? Hmmm??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Car accident, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Grief

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Drug use, Stalking, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, and Blood

memazz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Child abuse

a_bookish_discovery's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Police brutality

jennastopreading's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

That, my friends, is how you write a YA thriller/mystery! This is everything I wanted A Good Girls Guide to Murder to be and more (for the record, didn’t hate that book, but this was much better). Glasgow and Lawson have me wanting to give Agatha Christie’s books a try and also wrote a 400 page book I tore through in 2 days. Two. Days. Really enjoyed the twists and turns and the two main characters. The only minor criticism I had was that both MCs had very similar “voices”, so it was easy to be confused as to whose perspective I was in mid chapter. But it wasn’t enough to knock off a star for me. All in all, a solid, page turning novel! And the ending makes it seem like it’s maybe setup for a sequel?! I would be happy with that!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Abandonment and Blood