Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith

4 reviews

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Grief, Alcoholism, Addiction, Biphobia, Body horror, Gun violence, Suicide, Miscarriage, Self harm, Torture, Trafficking, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Classism, Death, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Slavery, Stalking, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Excrement, Ableism, Violence, and Bullying

There’s murder, sexual coercion and assault on underaged and of age characters mentioned and suggested. There’s drowning, confinement in tight, restrictive spaces, there’s mental and physical manipulation and torture. There’s hired hit men and lurkers. The plot has to do with a controversial cult that uses a lot of cultural appropriation of Asian religions and philosophies in the cult’s supposed doctrine. There are also scenes and depictions of endangering small children’s welfare. Cult characters assault female characters quite obviously as well. There are characters with mental and physical health problems. There’s suicide and murder. Look at the triggers.

lillinares's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

Although I love long books and getting to return to them every night for a couple of months (I read before bed and often fall asleep after a couple of pages), this could have been edited and shortened. With that said, this was much better than the last one in the series. That one had so many cases going on at the same time, I can’t even remember what the main plot was. (Never mind, I remember now). This one was focused though. Thankfully. It still suffered from a lot of useless details. I found myself skimming at times.

Anyway, the plot is well-woven and immersive. I felt like I was in that cult with Robin the entire time.

Her escape from it was one of the most exciting scenes in this entire series.

Pat is now my favorite side character. Murphy can eat dirt. I’m proud of Strike and how he’s trying to be better in every sense. Robin is the true backbone of the story, always reliable and kind and smart, although, at times, I wish she wouldn’t be so courageous, not to say reckless. Her decisions make me tense. 

I gave this book that extra .25 stars because I cannot believe

he finally said it!

I had promised myself I wouldn’t give this lady more of my money, but apparently that’s out the window now. How long until the next one? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, Gun violence, Murder, Confinement, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Gore, Cancer, Death of parent, Incest, Self harm, Trafficking, and Eating disorder

alexishp23's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Suicide, Gaslighting, Gore, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Torture, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Abortion, Murder, Violence, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, and Cursing

Moderate: Dementia and Cancer

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I love all the Cormoran Strike books - they get better and better with increasing complexity of Strike and Robin’s characters. There are complaints that this one, at close to 1000 pages, is too long, but I found the story so riveting that I never felt the plot was unnecessarily long. The occasional dry humor is a relief from all the tension - it feels good to laugh when there’s nothing remotely laughable about the story as a whole. 

This entry in the series is particularly horrific. I knew the part about Robin going undercover in a cult was going to be tense but I didn’t know it would be quite as terrifying as it was. I found myself consumed with dread as I read it and kept having to stop and pull back from the story. 

I did have trouble keeping the relationships of the characters straight. There were a lot of people and parentage wasn’t always what the cult leaders claimed. The next time I read this I’ll make a cheat sheet so I can remember who’s who. 

I’m already looking forward to the next in the series. I hope there are a lot more books to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Violence, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture