Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

77 reviews

beckyremillard's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Violence, Cancer, Drug abuse, Murder, Stalking, and Addiction

Moderate: Child death and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal death

taelights's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

This book really hooked me from the first chapter. The concept was just so interesting to me and exploring the lengths people will go to save a loved one has always been a topic I've found interesting in media. So from the get go I love this book. 

However, it kind of lost me in the second half. The first half focused on the topics I liked. It had great pacing and tension, moments that had me on the edge of my seat, and so many intriguing characters and choices.

The second half had potential because exploring the aftermath of the trauma could have been super interesting but it went in a totally different direction than what I wanted. I thought what the author decided to go with was super unrealistic and overdramatic. Also the characterization of the person running the Chain was just so bad lol. 

Also, I thought the ending was

way too happy? Like I love happy endings, don't get me wrong, but this one was unrealistically happy. The characters expierence so much trauma in the book yet seemed to fully get over it super fast. Also the "babies ever after" trope was really unnecessary in this book. Honestly the romance to begin with was unnecessary but the baby especially. Like ah yes what an on and off cancer patient and her drug addict boyfriend who she's only with due to a trauma bond definitely need a baby.

Anyways this could have been a 5 star read but unfortunately the second half of the book knocked it down to a 4 star for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Confinement, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Cancer, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicide, Child death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Pregnancy

ems_rxlibrary's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Cancer, and Drug use

Moderate: Gun violence

drannieg's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-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

2.75

Tedious and bland. I loved the Duffys, which were sly, dark and funny. Am v glad this made enough money for McKinty to get back writing again as he is fab, but this is hard boiled Americanised pants. (I'll be fair, had I not read the Duffys I'd probably give this a 3.5 but I wanted more of his humour and sharp writing and this was not it). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Confinement

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Death of parent

jasperw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I thought this was a solid horror. I didn't have as many issues with the ending as a lot of people have seemingly had. I kind of liked that the book wasn't just following Rachel and trying to get her kid back for the whole thing. There were times when I thought the switching between perspectives/insight into the characters got confusing (specifically when it happened a lot during the book). Overall it was solid read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, Cancer, Gun violence, and Drug abuse

khowey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Drug use, and Confinement

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Cancer

katlacombe's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Gun violence

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Suicide

bethsbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

2.75

⛓️ I finished The Chain by Adrian McKinty at the weekend I’m giving it 2.75/5 stars! This is a pretty low rating considering how much I loved the first half.

☕️ the plot: this book follows a mother whose daughter has just been kidnapped. to get her back, she needs to kidnap someone else’s child & the chain continues. This premise was WILD and the first half was GOLDEN! I actually recommend reading the first half and stopping there lol. It was so fast paced and there was so much at stake, but the second half was dull, cliche & yet somehow too far fetched

☕️ the characters: the characters were pretty lame and cliche. They didn’t feel dimensional to me at all, I couldn’t empathise with them much

☕️ the writing: ooooft the writing was not good. It started fine but it got worse and worse until the author wasn’t even writing in full sentences! It was also third person present which felt off for the novel. I think first person would have been much better here

☕️ pacing, world building & diversity: the pacing was good the first half then petered out. The world building was interesting??? But also boring??? And there was no diversity really! All the characters were described as white & straight. There was some representation for cancer, and mental health but it was very surface level.

☕️ ending & enjoyment: the ending was CRAZY DUMB LOL. Like so lazy. But overall it was an enjoyable quick read that I’ll probably forget about in a month’s time

⚠️ trigger warnings: kidnapping, murder, guns, trauma, child abuse, child death, death, corruption, drug abuse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Child death

jackbifrost's review

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Medical content, Drug abuse, War, and Cancer

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Death

ronniek's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Cancer, Gun violence, and Kidnapping