Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

24 reviews

a_libraryghost's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

I started this book wanting a twisty but easy to read thriller after being in a reading slump, and that’s exactly what I got. In some ways it exceeded my expectations, mostly it met them and in a couple ways I was disappointed. 
As others have pointed out there are a lot of twists though despite this most of them are pretty predictable. There was one twist I was surprised it took so long to reveal because it seemed very obvious very quickly. Though I will say while I was right about almost everything, I was made to second guess my assumptions. The two major twists directly linked to Emma were the ones I didn’t see coming and definitely were the most compelling. 

In fact, Emma in general was the best part of this story. So often when reading or watching horror you do not care whether the character lives or dies, or you might want them to die for being so stupid, but I was rooting for Emma (and Laika!) the  whole time and she is really what kept me reading. 

I had two big issues with the book. One was the invincibility of the characters like

Howard is hit by a van, has his hand struck by a hammer, and is stabbed in the chest with a katana…AND CAN STILL WALK?!

and the other is the laughably stereotypically the way the villain is depicted. Like the author pulled him straight from a reddit meme
Neckbeard? ✅
Fedora? ✅ 
Literally says “I guess nice guys do finish last”? ✅ 
A FUCKING KATANA?! ✅ 

I think Adams tried to subvert it a bit and give him some more depth but it when the nice guy line came I just had to laugh and it felt a bit like I was reading something straight on reddit. 

I do agree the ending dragged on but I liked it and was pretty happy with the outcome.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Car accident, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Infertility

Minor: Mass/school shootings

crabcake28's review

dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I read this expecting a lot after reading No Exit and I wasn’t disappointed. While it didn’t exactly have the mood I was hoping it would have, I still enjoyed it immensely. The book had me in shock, heart broken, cringing, and even laughing out loud at parts. I absolutely loved the back and forth between narrators and the realization that one of which was not in anyway reliable. Definitely the kind of book I’ll reread with a whole new perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Vomit, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Child death, Alcoholism, Infertility, and Stalking

death of an infant child

attempted murder of a pet

katiedesando's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking

Moderate: Mass/school shootings

laurensm_th's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

Very Taylor Adams

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Mass/school shootings and Animal cruelty

Minor: Abandonment and Alcoholism

reahbee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

THE DOG IS FINE. Lest anyone dnf for fear. No promises on any of the people.

This was so much more than the suspenseful, slasher-y book I thought I was getting into (though it was that too.) A master class on how to end a story, with plenty of twists to keep you guessing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Gore, Alcoholism, Sexism, Gun violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infertility, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, and Physical abuse

child death

,

car accident

emory's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Suicide, Child death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Murder, Misogyny, and Car accident

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Domestic abuse and Mass/school shootings

rafiniert's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Vomit, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Infertility, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Child death and Sexism

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, and Mass/school shootings

likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The concept of this book: an author becomes so infuriated by a one star review that he tracks down the review to murder her, sounded too fun to pass up. And thankfully, I enjoyed this book a lot.

The first 50% of this book was incredible. I was thoroughly creeped out and was having a great time coming up with theories about what the twists would be. And even when many of my theories were proven right, they were done in such a way that left me invested in the story and frequently wanting to throw my e-reader across the room.

The weak points for me were after the halfway mark. While the book was engaging all the way through, it sometimes became frustrating to see what was happening way before some of the characters did. The main twist involving the heroine’s past also made it difficult to sympathize with her the way I would have like to as a reader. And there was also a very very brief, seemingly last-minute decision to include an explanation/excuse of mental illness concerning the killer that left a bad taste in my mouth. These things brought this down from a 4 to a 3.5 for me.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. I couldn’t put it down and I was a little sad when it was over. Love the premise, mostly love the story. Going to sleep with my lights on now!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Addiction, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

collinsd's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Child death, Violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Self harm, Alcohol, and Car accident

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Grief, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

chasingpages1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Animal death, Death, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Car accident, Child death, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical content, Addiction, Excrement, and Eating disorder