Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

56 reviews

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

This story is split into three timelines: The summer of 2000 when a violent crime was committed at the farmhouse, an unknown time in which a mother and young girl are held captive, and present day in which our protagonist, Wylie, a true crime writer who is staying at the farmhouse to finish writing her book is being snowed in and finds a little boy freezing to death outside.

At times, this story feels like three books in one as each storyline slowly unfolds and we try to make predictions and decipher how they're connected. The characters are interesting and it's fun trying to predict their motivations.

The setting adds a lot of atmosphere to the story, especially in the present day/winter scenes. The cold, dark, white out conditions add so much claustrophobia. There were a few scenes in which I was genuinely terrified for our main characters.

My favorite thing about this book was seeing how the different characters reacted to the situations they found themselves in. It felt believable.
One of my least favourite things was the end reveal - the reveal itself was fine, but I think it would have been more impactful if the motivations of the antagonist were a little more defined.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slow burn crime/thrillers and dark "whodunnits". 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Car accident, Sexism, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Pregnancy, Rape, Stalking, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Abortion, Child abuse, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury

chooper454's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Child death, and Car accident

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Vomit, Terminal illness, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cancer

horizonous's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Car accident

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Murder, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Suicide, Excrement, Gore, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Vomit

zthebibliophile's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

clg7585's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Rape, and Violence

arealpageturner's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Rape

natbrooke94's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

haleybre's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Vomit, Rape, and Sexual assault

kristiebringhurst's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Violence

babyjay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The suspense of this book was pretty intense for me, and I won’t lie, I seriously considered turning on a night light! I’m pretty wimpy but the story had enough of a hook to keep me engaged. It’s a good book and if you like crime/suspense novels pick it up! I won’t go into plot details, just wanted to give my two cents on why this isn’t a 5 star for me. 

It should be. The characters are complex and realistic even in extraordinary situations. However, the snippets told from law enforcement perspective are just a little too hero worship-y for me. The stereotypical badass female from headquarters with an eagle eye and a soft touch for witnesses, the rogue cop with his own rules who will stop at nothing to chase a lead, the good hearted sherif that just really *knows* these people. 

Not only is it boring but dangerous! Telling stories where cops who terrorize to get information are doing the “wrong thing for the right reasons” glamorizes the abusive system that kills and brutalizes just because they can. The author also leans heavily on the self destructive alcoholic war veteran who creeps everyone out. The man has severe PTSD that goes untreated along with a difficult and painful life. Writing him into a story in such an unforgiving way and continuing to abuse his character throughout the book is gross. Vets have enough trouble as it is, no need to perpetuate the stereotypes of them being violent, dangerous, and unstable. 

The chapters in this book that include the aforementioned BS are short and infrequent, get swollowed up by the actual action of the story, and generally have very little to do with the plot. If you can ignore the filler it’s worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Torture, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Car accident, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Rape, Terminal illness, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Physical abuse