Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

21 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.

---

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

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 💕 

---

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

---

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

shansaunders's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Stalking, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Sexual violence

jennyoli96's review

dark emotional 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Murder, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Grief, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

nrogers_1030's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

The identity of the killer is pretty predictable. That being noted, it still had enough twists to be a good read. Atticus’s passing was so heartbreaking

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicide, Self harm, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, and Rape

leebeeloves's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Suicide, Blood, Grief, and Pregnancy

biancabuysbooks's review

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

Alex Finlay does it again with an excellent follow-up thriller to his debut, and he has now become a must-read author for me! Also, I LOVE this cover with the neon lights!

The Night Shift was a quick read with short chapters (the best), and features dual timelines, which Finlay handled well. The first timeline, set in 1999, features four teenage girls working at a Blockbuster (throwback!) when 3/4 of them are killed. Police identify a suspect but are unable to capture him.

Fifteen years later, a similar crime happens at an ice cream shop: 4 teenage girls are working, three are killed, and one survives.

What follows is a race to catch this killer featuring a great cast of characters. We get a sharp female FBI agent and her eager assistant/sidekick, the original survivor who is now a counselor for troubled teens, the younger survivor who happens to be a troubled teen herself, and the brother of the initial suspect who eluded police for 15 years.

Finlay weaves in so many twists and turns in the hunt for the killer, along with unexpected connections between the characters! It was a page turner and I'm here for his next thriller!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Minor: Suicide, Grief, Bullying, Self harm, and Child abuse

maregred's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Blood, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

librariangeorgia's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

The concept was so interesting and very well executed. Full of twists and surprises - I totally didn’t guess the killer!

It’s split into 3 parts, with each part having short chapters that alternate between Ella, Chris and Keller’s perspectives. With the chapters being so short, I did struggle at the beginning to get used to how quick it flicks between characters.

I really liked Keller and Ella as character, wasn’t fussed on Chris. However, I did think that Ella was a more interesting ‘final girl’ than Jesse - I don’t know if it’s because of how they were written or if it was because Ella was an ‘old’ final girl whereas Jesse had only just become a final girl.

Overall, I found it to be a really interesting alternative ‘final girl’ style thriller.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Self harm