Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

13 reviews

dodgeremerson's review

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? Yes

Not the worst book, but it was very predictable. I called the killer from their introduction, as well as the other deaths that we discover early on. Kind of disappointing.

Also...

I am really frustrated that the promising young brown kid was killed off. He is the only death outside of the murders, and the only death "on the page." Why is the only POC mentioned the only death? Granted, it was clear he was going to die from the moment Finlay introducedhis mother with that "take care of my boy" line. But it is still irritating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Blood, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Violence

Minor: Self harm, Suicide, Abortion, Bullying, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death of parent, Addiction, and Police brutality

eevee_saur137's review

mysterious 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? No

2.75

This isn't a bad mystery, but it's a little overwritten in the sections where we see what characters are thinking. It is not subtle in the writing, and it can be hamfisted with its jokes and references. Clues can be buried, come out of left field, or just happen off-page (offscreen?) and after the reveals start flooding in, I wished the story would slow down. I wanted to know more about how the characters processed everything.

I don't mind the ending but I don't believe in the final couple, they had no chemistry or even opportunity to connect. And the fact that the only POC character ended up dead just disappoints me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Blood

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Alcohol

It is a spoiler but

The reveal of the killer is also the revelation of multiple abusive, adult/minor relationships. Different minors, same adult.

vj_thompson's review

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow, wow, wow. The ENDING!!!

The Night Shift is probably up there in being one of my favorite thrills. I didn’t see the ending coming at all. I did get one of the plot twists. I liked that two of the three characters had flaws that they were processing through while the whole story was playing out.

The ending was the Epilogue was the sweetest thing 💕 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Stalking, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Self harm, Suicide, Abortion, Bullying, Classism, and Eating disorder

sydoodle's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Stalking, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Blood, Child death, Pregnancy, Suicide, Violence, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder

kingrosereads's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A mass murder mystery-thriller with some 90s throwback scenes. 

On New Year's Eve 1999, the teenaged employees of Blockbuster in Linden, New Jersey, are excited to welcome in Y2K. But before they can close, they’re all brutally murdered. All but one. The remaining survivor, Ella, is haunted by the events of that night. Fifteen years later, an eerily similar attack happens in an ice cream shop in Linden, again with only one survivor, Jesse. Ella returns to town, now a therapist, to help Jesse navigate her new world and hopefully solve both crimes once and for all.

The story has multiple POVs: Ella, Chris (the brother of the alleged Blockbuster murderer and now public defender), and Agent Keller (a very pregnant FBI agent assigned to help the local PD). I wasn’t a fan of Ella or how her character was written, but I thought Jesse was really compelling. Chris was also written well, but the women in his life not so much. Keller was okay, but kind of just there and sorta just randomly solves the crimes. Atticus was my one true love in this whole book. The best personality, that guy. 

I gotta say, I’m not always a fan of thriller novels since the ones I’ve read tend to be really predictable and have annoying pacing, but this book was paced well and had me on the edge of my seat a few times. At some point, different mysteries became predictable and the main big bad in this story had a rather rushed climax with minimal information on the resolution. The book’s murders are much like the yogurt shop murders that happened in Austin 1991, and I can’t see the author’s choice of motive really fitting in this kind of case. Also, hated that the only character of color was killed. 

A decent thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Toxic relationship

bre88's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Classism, Death of parent, Bullying, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide

wonderfulxwonderful's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Child death, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Gaslighting, Self harm, Blood, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, and Mental illness

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Gun violence, and Stalking

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Bullying and Gore

kshertz's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.25

This was an inspiring murder mystery book. It was a ton of twists and turns. I enjoyed going along for the ride. There were a few things I didn’t see coming but I’m getting better at figuring out these thrillers! I highly recommend it as a thriller to keep your blood pressure high. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Child death, Death, and Violence