Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Pines by Blake Crouch

22 reviews

vexatiousbird's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

The good: It’s exciting. I was really curious to see where it all led. It’s fast paced and has plenty of twists. The concept was interesting.

The bad: There is not a single interesting character to be found here - all flat plot devices with no depth. The protagonist is not likable but he’s not an antihero, he’s just entitled and oblivious, eg., getting furious at the front desk for not giving him a hotel room when he has no way to pay for it. There are a lot of cheap tricks to keep the excitement going, and a lot of it doesn’t even make sense in the broader plot. There is some excessive violence which seems unnecessary/nonsensical when we ultimately see the full picture. Honestly a lot of things make less sense after the big reveal, not more sense.

The “good guys” can’t think of any way to prevent people from leaving town and force them to buy into paradise other than to enlist the entire town to catch them and literally torture them to death in a macabre carnival atmosphere so other people are too scared to try? When their ultimate goal is preserving life? What?

I dropped another of this author’s books partway through, and I thought it was just that specific plot and those characters, but it’s clear now that the problem is the author. I won’t be reading anything more by him, and now that the big mystery in this book is solved, I have no interest in continuing the series either. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Murder, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Medical trauma

dayanitha's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Kidnapping, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, and Infidelity

zosiablue's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I've seen the TV version of this a couple of times through and thought it was finally time to read the books. It's such a thrilling weird sci-fi story and the payoff at the end of this first one is SO GOOD. You just don't see it coming and it gives you that same Planet of the Apes / Twin Peaks unsettling-oh-shit vibe. Drags uh some parts like the show but really really fun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Car accident, and Confinement

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Police brutality, War, and Infidelity

bbducki's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Car accident, Medical trauma, Murder, Infidelity, Gore, and Torture

saltycoffee's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Police brutality, Car accident, Confinement, Violence, Body horror, Medical trauma, and Kidnapping

delaneybull's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Car accident, Blood, Death, and Torture

ladawson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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: Murder

Moderate: Blood, Death, Body horror, Car accident, and Gore

Minor: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and War

irenemarie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident and Death

Minor: Infidelity and Suicide

bearystarry's review

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? N/A

3.0

Unsure how I feel about this... and unsure if I'll continue the trilogy. Definitely fast-paced and an easy listen, but I guess it has a lot of tropes that aren't necessarily my favourite.

The Creatures immediately put me off and then the ending, both with the far future and Ethan taking over the sheriff job, don't really get me excited to read more. Though I am vaguely curious as to how he handles that, still no idea if I'm curious enough to continue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, Police brutality, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Confinement

Moderate: War

Minor: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

inuyashaswife's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Car accident