Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

96 reviews

laurenbaggy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Addiction, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

tibbettsn99's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

This was a suspenseful thriller, though I partially predicted the plot twist.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Death, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

tabea1409's review

adventurous mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Death, Alcoholism, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Self harm, Violence, and Vomit

gagal96's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

What a great murder mystery! I don't know how others figured the ending out with all the twists the author was throwing at us. I had guesses as to who was killed and who did it but I was way off each time. The only things I wasn't a big fan of was the bouncing back and forth in the timelines, which was confusing at times for me, and the pacing felt a little slow for me at the beginning. Overall, a great story! I'd definitely like to read more from this author in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Murder, Self harm, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, and Racism

bethaniesherwood's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I don’t like how neatly some of the plot threads are wrapped up. It’s almost too neat. It feels akin to “plot armor” but I genuinely don’t think that’s the case. To an extent, I think all the “coincidences” are fine at an event like a wedding — which would bring everyone you know together — but there’s two “coincidence”s that shouldn’t fit and feel forced. It takes you out of it. 

That said, the writing itself is very good. Gripping. Even though all these characters are terrible people, I was hooked. Foley has a way of crafting a narrative that’s hard to get out of your head. She seems to gravitate toward mysteries but if she ever wrote a psychological thriller, I’d buy several copies. 

Anyway, I “read” this as an audiobook. The narrators did a fantastic job, each character had its own voice — which paid homage to their roots and personality. 

I think the editor screwed Foley over a bit on this one. When I read through reviews and saw people citing repetition as an undesirable trait, I just assumed they meant the revolving narratives. That was premature. The narratives and timelines are orchestrated quite well. In my opinion, the word choice was redundant in a lot of ways. Again, excusable through their linked pasts and culture. The foreshadowing didn’t help either — too  heavy handed. 

Still a great read. Would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Blood, Violence, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Grief

Parental neglect; sexual blackmail;

books_because_why_not's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Alcohol, Murder, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Abortion, Child death, and Sexual content

annaliseg's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Alcoholism, Grief, Self harm, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Bullying, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

gemmu's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Alcohol, Death, Self harm, Blood, and Drug use

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Child death

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Cursing, Classism, Addiction, and Abortion

mkilla's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cursing, Grief, Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Infidelity, Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

bethanie_l's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I read some stuff other people said about it after finishing and I get their complaints, but I really liked the different narrators and the twists. Maybe it worked better since I listened to the audiobook, I really liked that it was a full cast instead of a single narrator. I gasped many times while listening and cried a lot too. I liked that we not only didn't know the killer, but we didn't know the victim until near the end. I went back and listened to different bits after certain reveals and it was really satisfying. There was one single twist I could've done without, but it didn't spoil anything for me. I wish the characters had been a little less one-dimensional and there were really only 3 characters I found likable, but I don't need my characters to be likeable. I do prefer when they aren't just tropes, but I still think the mystery itself made that okay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Self harm, Child death, Bullying, Cursing, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Death, Murder, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia, Blood, and Abortion