Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

47 reviews

heather_harrison's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Thank you NetGalley & Ultimo Press for my e-ARC. 

The Woman in the Library is a murder mystery, which begins in the Boston library with a group of young(ish) adults with the transfixing scream of a mystery woman. Our protagonist, Freddie (Winifred), toys with the idea of using the other three at her table as inspiration for her writing, and a friendship is quickly struck up within the group. 

Each chapter is ended with email correspondence to Hannah, the writer of the above tale, from her 'beta reader' Leo. As the story progresses, his input becomes more forceful and dark, and alludes to something very chilling. 

White this did first through me a bit and was a little confusing, once I acclimatized I enjoyed the meta aspect of the story, and felt like it really lifted it from the usual murder mystery template. 

I also enjoyed the corrections of her Australian writing colloquialism from Leo, and the 'discussion' around whether or not to acknowledge the COVID-19 pandemic. Otherwise his correspondence was unsettling which certainly reflects well on Gentill's writing skills.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Stalking, Racism, and Domestic abuse

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content, Death, Cursing, Murder, and Stalking

Minor: Body horror, Classism, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Gun violence

rmgiannino's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Rape, and Medical content

schausjk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This took me a little while to get into, mostly because I find books about authors/writing irritating. However, as the story went on and the purpose of the little editorial bits became apparent I enjoyed it a lot more.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Stalking and Death of parent

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, and Alcoholism

ireadinbed's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Honestly i thought halfway through this book was a five. A really fun premise, characters i liked a lot, set in an interesting place i havebt read about before. 

I think the story within a story and how symbiotic they were really gives it an extra edge. 

Unfortunately the letter story kind of ended up not feeling resolved and obviously that bled into the main story at the end. Just knicked the ending off enough to leave me feeling disappointed. But still a really good read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, and Gun violence

Minor: Racism

j_emerson18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

What a great book to start the year. It was inspirational and well written.  I love the plot twists near the end. The writing style was super intriguing. I loved the story with the four unlikely friends in the midst of a murder. **spoiler warning**
I am honestly a little upset by the lack of depth or detail about the secondary story between two writers in which one is a serial killer. I would have loved more information about the two of them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Stalking, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Torture

Minor: Grief and Sexual content

trippyotter's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

I absolutely love all the layers to this story! Once you have an idea of what's happening, a new detail is added, and you're left wondering what will happen next. This was my first book written by Sulari Gentill, and I can't wait to read her other books.

The story begins in the reading room of the Boston Public Library, where our strangers hear a scream, a scream that will terrify and unite them in their curiosity to unravel the mystery. A mystery that has no simple answer and will test their newly developed friendship. 

As the secrets unravel and their bonds are tested, ties will strengthen between the couples that will begin to divide their loyalties to each other. 

Over the course of several weeks, as details are discovered, you'll begin to question the agenda of several of the strangers. Was the chance encounter between them, on that fateful day, just happenstance or was it orchestrated? 

As the mystery starts to unravel, will their friendship survive the truth of what happened? 

Will they survive the truth?

I'd also like to mention that besides loving the story, the foodie in me couldn't get enough of the food tour of Boston, real or fake!

But, I think my only complaint, if any, would be how little time is actually spent in the library. After the murder, there's very little time spent in the library, majority of the time will be spent in Freddy's apartment, local eateries, or walking about the city. It all meshes wonderfully with the story, but I do wish more time was spent in the library.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Racism, Medical content, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Stalking, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Murder

e_flah's review

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? Yes

2.0

The Woman in the Library had a lot of different things happening in one fairly short book. For the most part, I found the layers of mysteries entertaining though I was disappointed with how brief the whodunit wrap-up at the end was. My biggest complaint was the lack of character development. All of the main characters felt a bit flat and didn't do much to keep me invested in the story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault and Child abuse

attempted sexual assault of a minor

someryarns's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Stalking