Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Friends Like These by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

7 reviews

sunnyruth75's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Not as good as Alvarez’s first but still a fun mystery read. The first half drags but really gets juicy after that. And I called the ending which doesn’t happen often so I’m riding a high.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Vomit, and Death of parent

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Blood, Car accident, Death, Murder, Bullying, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Violence, and Physical abuse

Minor: Cancer, Classism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

jackieyvette's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow. This book is dark and twisted and seemingly straightforward, but is just a whole mess in a really great way. 
I don’t want to say too much and risk ruining it for someone, so I’ll just say I think this story can be summed up in one sentence to me and that is: people are literally insane. 
I feel like this could be a really popular book in the same vein as something like We Were Liars and I’m so happy I got here before the flock appears. 

Crying score: yeah, a little. 

PS read TWs 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Rape, Stalking, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Child death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Bullying, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Vomit

amy02's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

Overall I enjoyed this book, I thought it had a mystery that kept you guessing (though I did guess 80% of the solution including that

Chloe was the one who hurt teagan

). The characters were deeply unlikeable at times, especially Jake, but I think it made it all the more realistic. Everyone reacted like teenagers actually would. The twists were surprising but not so much that they were unbelievable. Things were set up really well, it wasn't like things just came out of nowhere. I also couldn't put this book down, but the rating is a bit on the lower side because I rate based on intuition.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Violence, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Dysphoria, Murder, Body shaming, Vomit, and Car accident

Minor: Animal death

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 4 stars- This covered a lot of hard topics! Wow! but in a very compassionate way. I did really enjoy the story, the twists, and turns, not the character's suffering. But it did end differently than I thought it would, for once I didn't know who the murderer was right away! LOL So I was surprised, but it all made sense. Overall a lot of messed up people doing messed up things to each other. High school now sounds like hell! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Vomit, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Bullying, Violence, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Drug use, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer

katiemack's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The mystery here--Where is Tegan? Who killed [character name removed for spoilers]?--is compelling enough that it would probably entertain fans of Karen McManus or Holly Jackson. For me, this didn't do enough to stand out in the plethora of YA mysteries that have come out in the last five years or so. The unreliable narrator trope makes the story more intriguing, but I didn't care what happened to the characters because everyone had at least one aspect that made them wholly unlikeable. I'm all for realism (no one is perfect), but they didn't have anything to make them interesting either. Plus, the suspension of disbelief asked of the reader is, well, almost too much to keep the story going. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Murder

oracle_of_madness's review against another edition

3.5

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!

Talk about toxic!! Whew... this was a wild ride and it had my head spinning with the possibilities in this intense small town thriller.

I think this was the point, but I didn't really like any of the characters.   Plus, right from the start, the author throws the reader into the middle of one of the worst things that could happen at a party... or anytime, anywhere really.   

When Jessica is ready to leave a huge summer party the TV suddenly turns on and she sits in horror watching her boyfriend hook up with her ex- best friend.   This story continues with a missing persons case and much more.  So be ready and hold on bc this does not slow down!

Out November 1, 2022!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Death