Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

12 reviews

dasnof's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

Fiona was a dummy, cops need to be eradicated. I did end up enjoying our group of girls from Idlewild, especially at the end when they were older, it was cute. The historical angle was interesting but the mysteries were a flop for me. Both resolutions to both murders were meh. Jamie's daddy needs to BURN

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Suicide attempt and Hate crime

luluhasnolife's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

Sorry English isn’t my first language 
So I apologize in advance 

It is incredible, I stayed all night reading this book. They are some heavy topics in this book but they are never full on detailed about it, I would keep this in mind if you are easily triggered about the tags warned…because those are the main one that are briefly discussed. 

Another thing I want to point out in my rating about diversity, this book has characters with incredibly different backgrounds and personalities it’s magnificent but all of them are white if I recall, that’s why I put it’s complicated. It makes sense that they are all white but still. 

Now positive!

I love how they brought actual historical events into this book, it made it feel more realistic 

The whole ghost thing without spoilers is so juicy and sad at the same time. It keep me on my toes ngl, my dog moved and I would get startled 


Some books can’t don’t time skips and changing pov but this author does an incredible job at it this. 

The way there’s always sudden hints and foreshadowing in this book ties everything up in a beautiful bow

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, and Sexism

lampbee's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I like her books. Ghost mysteries sound stupid on paper but the way she does them makes them entertaining :) It wrapped up so well in a way I wasn’t necessarily expecting but one that was satisfying. Vivid imagery and solid characterization of what a girls school is like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Violence, Hate crime, Murder, Death, Child death, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Police brutality, Addiction, Antisemitism, Genocide, and War

Obviously a lot of the book centers around how one of the school girls

was put into Ravensbruck for aiding her mother in the allied resistance of France

Her description is moderately graphic , there really should be a

holocaust content warning option

Also I walked into it thinking there would be copaganda but it was actually in the reverse which was crucial to liking the book.

matcha_cat'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, and Antisemitism

Minor: Addiction, Infidelity, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Torture, Child death, Rape, Death, Hate crime, and Medical content

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

“That was what the books did—they turned off your thinking for you, put their thoughts in your head so you wouldn't have your own.”

➽ I'm on a mission to read all of Simone St. James' books, as they never miss! The Broken Girls is another one of her stories, that is told in dual timelines. In 2014 we follow Fiona, a journalist who couldn't let go of her sister's death even though they convicted the murderer. Since Idlewild Hall, a former boarding school, is being restored, she decides to dive deeper into its history. Back in 1950, Idlewild Hall was a place for troublemaker girls that no one else wanted and we follow a group of girls who are there for various reasons. I really liked how both timelines intersected, as Fiona tries to learn more about what happened back then and how it could be connected to her sister's murder!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Sexism, and Death

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, War, Hate crime, Genocide, Rape, and Torture

alliedelexa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

my first book by Simone St. James and it didn’t disappoint. admittedly, it took me 3/4 of the book to really get invested. i enjoyed the dual timelines and the ending. i could’ve done without the love story because they generally feel forced but i understand the need to entangle the past with the present in this book. i found all the flashbacks incredibly interesting and i always looked forward to those point of views. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Antisemitism, and Child abuse

Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, Hate crime, Cursing, Murder, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief

beccam22's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Read this if you like:
🕰 Actually good dual timelines 
👯‍♀️ Close friend groups
🔪 who done it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Racism, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Eating disorder, and Classism

charmainelim's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Torture, Racism, Hate crime, and Murder

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

The Broken Girls is a historical fiction that goes back and forth between a boarding school for troubled girls in Vermont 1950 and the same town in Vermont 2014, following a journalist whose sister was murdered and dumped at the school. It's a murder mystery, it's a paranormal story, but above all, it's a story about sisterhood both biological and found.

There is so much to like about this book. First and foremost, the students at the boarding school were excellent, by far my favorite characters, Katie and Sonia especially. There were moments between them that were just so genuine and beautiful that it broke my heart. I thought the paranormal element of the story was very spooky and I loved the historical details that were there throughout. The 1950 chapters were my favorite because I loved the gothic boarding school setting and the haunting that came with it.

On to some negatives: The first 50 or so pages were a little slow and it made it hard for me to concentrate. I feel like this book would have benefitted greatly from some first person narration. I didn't like how detached the third person made me feel at times. I think that seeing at least one of the girl's from the first person perspective would have made a difference. I also thought the relationship part of the plot with Fiona and her boyfriend was annoying and took me out of the experience whenever it was being focused on. Additionally, during Fiona's investigations, a lot of things seemed to come to her very quickly and conveniently, which more than once made me, out loud, go "really?" It just seemed like she should've had to work a little harder for information that seemingly fell into her lap.

Overall, because of how much the characters overall meant to me, I gave this a 3.5. It was a perfect spooky wintry book for December!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Death of parent, Blood, Genocide, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Stalking, Kidnapping, and Hate crime

Moderate: Gaslighting, War, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Pregnancy

Minor: Fatphobia, Ableism, Excrement, Drug use, Addiction, Miscarriage, and Sexual content

saltycoffee's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Police brutality

Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Violence, and War