Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough

7 reviews

owls_rainbow's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

A gripping story full of twists! I loved the triple narration between Lisa, Marilyn and Ava. The pacing of this book was perfect the way it started slower and then picked up as it went on revealing more puzzle pieces as it goes along with flashback scenes that show more information.

I am a terrible thriller guesser and was working on a couple of different theories whilst reading but I was so wrong it was ridiculous! I especially loved how the characters developed over the course of the story, Lisa and Ava's relationship in particular. I do wish the ending could have been a little more filled out though in regards to repurcussions etc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Toxic friendship

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This was a fine book. I was curious what was going to happen in the end. I would read the author again for something just to move through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Blood, and Kidnapping

chireadsandchill's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

tspice24's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

xvaleriiia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

emmaclaire_z's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Murder, and Alcohol

tashadandelion's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The twists pack wallops and there is absolutely no way to predict most of them, because too much information is withheld along the way to make that possible. However, as lurid and heart-breaking as some of the backstory is in this novel, I found it compulsively more readable the further I got into it, until I was sneaking a page here and a page there before work, at lunch, and right after work. Always a good sign. I do want to point out that this book contains some particularly awful child death, so if you don't want to be exposed to that sort of sorrow, it would be best to skip over this one. For those who can handle it though, this reminded me of the murky squalor and shame of Dark Places by Gillian Flynn in all the best, creepy ways, though this story is almost ludicrously unrealistic in comparison (you just have to go with it, IMO; this isn't a Booker Prize contender; it's a page-turning thriller). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, and Grief