Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

25 reviews

haleybre's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicide attempt, War, Genocide, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

lauramparis's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide attempt, Violence, Addiction, Rape, Death of parent, and Genocide

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

Told in dual timelines, The Broken Girls is the story of four best friends at a remote boarding school for troubled teens, and a journalist trying to learn buried details of her sister’s murder.

I love a good ghost story, and Simone St. James writes some of the best. The Sun Down Motel remains one of my all time favorites thrillers, and I really enjoyed The Book of Cold Cases earlier this year, so I was super excited to get my hands on The Broken Girls this spooky season. Overall I really enjoyed it—the themes of female friendship and empowerment were really meaningful to me, and I particularly loved the underlying message about the importance of telling stories and not erasing women’s trauma.

I will say that I ultimately wanted a little more from the plot, which sometimes felt a bit disconnected to me, and I wish there had been a bigger twist or two. Still, the creepy boarding school vibes and hauntingly (pun very intended) beautiful writing definitely make this a top notch recommendation for this time of year!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: ghost stories; stories about uncovering and healing from trauma; dual timeline thrillers

CW: Death/murder/attempted murder (including of a child); grief; sexual assault/rape; traumatic brain injury; mentions of anti-semitism/Nazism/concentration camps; mentions of PTSD/suicide/suicide attempt; miscarriage/stillbirth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Murder, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Confinement, Sexism, Antisemitism, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, and Misogyny

Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Drug use

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

sbcrra's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

The Broken Girls by Simon St. James is about the search for truth even long after everyone else has moved on. It's about found family and the resilience of girls and women who have faced soul-crushing situations but rather than give in, they have fought to stay alive, both figuratively and literally. While a solid read, there were moments where I felt that the main character did not have to work very hard to learn information that was important in advancing the story. There was also the appearance of a character who Fiona meets in the alleyway of a church that I thought was really random. All in all, a good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Ableism, Antisemitism, Grief, Rape, and Sexual assault

markedwithanm's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Child death

ldruckreier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, and Forced institutionalization

cassielaj's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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 liked this. I love a ghost story that also exposes the horrors that exist among the living. The concept of Mary showing everyone their fears and horrors was very creepy and compelling, the back and forth between Fiona and the Idlewild girls kept me on my toes, and both of the mysteries had enough twists that I wasn’t always a step ahead. This book has a lot of emotion in it as well, which always improves a mystery in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Mental illness, Antisemitism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Rape, War, and Violence

This book discusses the Holocaust and Nazi prison camps.

omdenman's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Antisemitism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism

chandle5's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Forced institutionalization