Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Getaway by Lamar Giles

31 reviews

shewhoturnsallpages7834's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The first hundred pages were a struggle for me. And Jay’s incredible naïveté irked me but eventually added to the emotional tensions that ran throughout the book, especially after he experiences the darkest parts of the resort and it’s elite.

It is not hard to imagine the sinister plans of the rich and powerful in light of climate change, political divides and racial tensions in the late-stages of capitalism. But the smart use of a vacation resort turned company town riddled with technological fail-safes took this story to another level. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Cannibalism

spookily's review

dark tense medium-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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Blood, Dementia, Hate crime, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Classism, Physical abuse, and Slavery

Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Medical content, Gaslighting, Bullying, Car accident, and Kidnapping

Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Grief, War, Animal death, and Child death

imstephtacular's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gore, Gun violence, Cursing, Death, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, Violence, Body horror, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Police brutality, War, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dementia, Drug use, Confinement, Death of parent, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Grief, and Hate crime

Minor: Vomit, Deportation, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Fire/Fire injury

libscote's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

It seems like Jay is going to have a good life. After all, he's now able to live in Karloff Country, a Disney-esque resort that lets staff stay on its grounds and gives them something like an Apple Watch that does a lot of basic Siri-like tasks. It all quickly goes wrong, when the outside world crashes in and the true nature of Karloff Country is revealed. 

I don't want to give too much away due to spoilers, but this is a jaw-dropping look at something that is unfortunately too plausible. I could totally see this happening, and it's horrifying. There are definitely content warnings needed for this book. It's also so good though. I've seen comparisons to Jordan Peele's work and that feels apt to me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Torture, Classism, Confinement, Murder, and Racism

jeeener's review

adventurous dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, and Torture

ashylibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow, this book has a lot packed into it. It is dark, emotional, and horrific.

The Getaway takes place at an amusement park, known as the funnest place on Earth. What lies behind the walls of this Dinsey-like theme park is unknown to many who live within. They are told that if they stay within the walls of Karloff Country, they will remain safe. This, unsurprisingly, turns out to be a lie. 

Following Jay and his group of friends, readers are thrown into a dystopian world that emphasizes the ugly and utterly horrific dividing lines in the classism and racism of Karloff Country. 

I want to start by saying this book was good. It was really well done, and WOW does it pack a punch. I still find myself thinking about it when thinking about books to recommend and share. There is so much in this story that will bring readers in and keep their attention all the way until the end. 

There were many times throughout this story that I stopped and said WTF, and I feel like that was really the intention of the author. To make readers stop and ask what the heck is happening, and why is it being allowed? Hats off to Lamar Giles for making a dystopia horror novel that sadly holds truth of our society today. 

With all that being said, I do wish I got more with certain parts of the story. To keep this spoiler free, I will leave it at each this: after the initial reveal that something was fishy in Karloff Country, any time after that something big and seemingly wilder than last was brought up, that was kind of it. It was just, brought up. This is still a really good book and a well-done story, I just wanted more. 

I will be recommending this title. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Classism, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism, Blood, and Gore

winmakepiece's review

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, and Slavery

mals_reads's review

challenging dark 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Gore, Body horror, Classism, Racism, Slavery, Murder, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Suicide, Child death, Cannibalism, Dementia, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, and Kidnapping

trish_reading12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Post apocalyptic world where money and power remains with the 1% and everyone else is expected to fall into line.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism

marik0n's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

"The getaway" by Lamar Giles it a young-adult, mystery book that feels like an episode straight out of black mirror. 

The main characters are four teenagers -Chelle, Jay, Connie and Zeke- and their families that live and work in an extremely high-tech, world famous resort that includes various amusement/ theme parks and it meant for the scandalous rich elite. Jay is living his best life, until residents start disappearing and rich families gathering in the city, while no one talks about it. The group decides to look more into what is going on and the truth is... socking. 

It was surely unsettling but it wasn't a thriller. The synopsis gave me completely different vibes. However, it was a great, fast-paced book.

It explores themes such as climate change, racial and social injustice, classism and capitalism. Although it is a dystopian setting it really does not feel so far fetched. Reading this book was hands down unsettling and caused me lots of anxiety about the world we are living in. 

Before reading it, I would recommend checking out the trigger warnings. Some that come to my mind right off the bat are: suicide, murder, torture, cannibalism, racism, violence, death, hate crimes. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Classism, Gun violence, Racism, Police brutality, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Suicide, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, and Violence