Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Final Girls by Riley Sager

37 reviews

ggcd1981's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

3.25

Nota: 3.25 estrelas 

Já fazia um tempo que queria tentar ler algo do autor Riley Sager pela primeira vez, então quando tive oportunidade li Final girls. Sager é um autor que é bastante popular entre os leitores de Mystery/thriller e isso me deixou curiosa. A minha primeira experiência com uma obra do autor não foi bem o que eu esperava. Acredito que por ouvir tantas pessoas recomendarem seus livros acabei, involuntariamente, criando uma grande expectativa. Essa expectativa fez com que eu achasse Final girls bastante mediano. Contudo, essa impressão foi causada por minhas próprias expectativas altas, o livro não realmente tem culpa. Final girls não é um mal livro, foi relativamente bem escrito, apesar de aqui e acolá haverem algumas frases bastante questionáveis (brega mesmo). 

Como pontos negativos posso apontar: as mencionadas frases cringey; A primeira metade do livro tem um passo um pouco lento, em dado momento questionei se o livro era realmente considerado Mystery/Thriller/Horror devido a lentidão; personagens não agradáveis que você não consegue realmente se afeiçoar completamente; por ser um autor homem escrevendo cenas sexuais do ponto de vista de uma protagonista feminina achei estas cenas um pouco desagradáveis; o final foi um pouco “fácil” com Tina decidindo assumir a culpa pelo crime de Quincy. 

Os pontos positivos são: Livro relativamente bem escrito, mostrando duas linhas temporais, o “Presente” como Final girl de Quincy e o “Passado” do que aconteceu em Pine Cottage; O autor teve o cuidado de escrever personagens femininas complexas (mesmo que desagradáveis) e examinar, especialmente no caso de Quincy, como o trauma do massacre sobrevivido influência na vida no seu dia a dia (o esforço da personagem em parecer e dizer a si mesma que tudo está bem, quando seus comportamentos mostram outra coisa); o Twist do enredo me surpreendeu, eu não previ quem era o real culpado por Pine Cottage e o assassinato da Final girl Lisa.

Em conclusão o livro foi bom, mas minha expectativa de Riley Sager em conjunto com os pontos negativos citados tornaram a experiência de ler Final Girl mediana, ainda que o twist eu não tenha previsto. Acho que 3.25 estrelas é justo, a obra foi interessante e me surpreendeu. Em geral experiência de leitura positiva porém nada que eu considere memorável. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

carisamarie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Murder, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Incest, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Blood, and Alcohol

mejones42's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, and Gun violence

sonygaystation's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

2.0

This was NOT the book for me!!! I predicted who was really behind everything from the minute we're first introduced to them so I didn't even really feel all that satisfied cuz I could've DNF'd it and known the entire plot. I really liked Sager's Home Before Dark so maybe his books are just a hit or miss for me. Sometimes when books irritate me I can't stop asking myself what the book added to the genre, and this was definitely one of those. I also kept asking myself why it was necessary for a man to tell a story about a woman's trauma especially when it concerns graphic physical, emotional, and sexual violence. Like why did HE of all people feel compelled to tell that story? I don't even really think he did it in a way that was sensitive either. For books with graphic discussions of suicide I feel like that needs to be addressed with care, which means literally two (2) seconds of research on the topic would churn up the fact that "die by suicide" is a much better and less stigmatizing phrase to use than "committed suicide." This is minor but it also pissed me off that one of the scenes discussing one of the character's first times having sex actively talked about how painful it would be. It bothers me that the painful first-time penetration narrative gets pushed by people (more alarming that a man is perpetuating it like damn dude that's telling) who clearly missed some important parts of sex education (news flash: it should not be painful the first time ever). This next feeling is more major, but I was also pretty frustrated that one of the pivotal scenes that help develop the MC's personality involved a homeless man with a drug addiction who just HAPPENS to be latinx/e. Like, really?? We gotta add on racism, as well?? This book was just predictable and boring and pretty much was insensitive with regards to literally every "gritty" topic it covered.

At least Sager reinforced the ACAB narrative. My distrust of c*ps came in handy this time lol.

content warnings: graphic violence, grief, death, murder, suicide, abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual), mental illness (PTSD, trauma), drug addiction and abuse (talks about crack and xanax)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Car accident, Eating disorder, and Vomit

mearaisreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Sexual content

reviewsandreadathons's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Gun violence

nerysb's review against another edition

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

I love a good twist ending, but I had to think back to see if the ending ACTUALLY made sense and if there were clues leading up to it. Some bits were very predictable, others not at all. 
I'm not a fan of stories where everyone's the bad guy/all the characters are grey, so if you're looking for characters to get attached to this isn't the one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship