Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

23 reviews

shedobechaotic'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Gun violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Classism, Abortion, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Car accident and Drug abuse

savreads28's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Gore, Gun violence, Cursing, Death, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Blood, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Abortion, Car accident, Death of parent, Addiction, Medical content, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide, and Violence

lovelymisanthrope's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I picked this up because it is the Literally Dead Book Club pick for the month of October.
"The Family Game" is a fast-paced thriller that follows a woman named Harry. Harry's life could be going better. She is struggled to write her second novel following the success of her first, but at least she has Edward. Edward is a seemingly perfect man, and he has just proposed to Harry. However, Harry has never met Edward's family. With the holidays just around the corner, now seems like the perfect time for Harry to meet all of the Holbecks, until Harry learns of their ruthless games and cutthroat attitudes towards one another.
This was a fast-paced, thrilling mystery with the added layer of a game. The Holbecks have some very eccentric holiday traditions, and honestly if I were Harry, I would have stormed out of the house far more quickly. As I have recently read "The Inheritance Games", this book reminded me quite a bit of that plot. The Holbecks do not come right out and say anything. They have a tendency to play games and leave riddles for people to try to guess what is really going on. "The Family Game" was also much more deadly.
The Holbecks have some dark secrets they are trying to keep buried, and those mysteries left me on my toes throughout the book. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, another layer of the story was introduced, and I was thrown for a loop. Ultimately, I did not see the ending coming, and I enjoyed where the story ended up.
This book takes place during the holiday season, and because of that, it is very atmospheric. The depictions of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and snow made me excited for the season to come, and I highly recommend this thriller during the months of November and December.
Harry is an author in this book, but I did not think this fact did a lot for her character. I think the reader is supposed to see that Harry is an author and because of this she knows how to investigate. However, for me, her character felt very amateur in her sleuthing and the fact that she was an author was just a small part of the story.
I had a pretty good time reading this, and I will keep an eye out for more from Catherine Steadman in the future! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Suicide and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content

danajoy's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

A Christmas Thriller focused on an excessively rich American family. They have crazy traditions and a shroud of secrecy around them. 

When Harriet, a British Thriller Author, newly engaged gets thrown into meeting her future in-laws it is quite overwhelming. The Holbeck's have an American dynasty and she's an orphan. 
A tape from the pariarch Robert Holbeck, the first time she met him changes everything.

It feels cinematic. The audiobook performance (by the author!) and sound design are fantastic. I loved that the tapes had the sound and texture of an anologue recording. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pregnancy, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Gun violence, Car accident, and Death

chelle22's review

challenging 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Car accident, Deadnaming, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Abortion

yunsq's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

Wow WOW WOW. My breaths are held, my head is racing and my toes are CURLED for this book. The last book I read was in early Jan and started on this hoping to get my momentum back … it did so much more. The unique, hence refreshing) premise, immaculate scene setting, and the delicious twists and turns……. I haven’t felt this impressed by a thriller in a while. 

What a delicious, gripping and intense mystery!! 

Could’ve been perfect if the ending was more resolute

How did Stuart survive the fire? Who saved him? Is Harry still sexually attracted to Robert? Why did Edward have to kill Fiona and Oliver? What happened in the house when Harry was out searching for clues??

and some plot holes rounded up.

Like why did the author decide to take Lila out of the game in the end? What’s up with Edward’s  odd childhood bedroom photos? Is it insinuated that ‘Edward’ is Bobby??

I’d say though, I felt the first half of the book dragged on a little longer than I’d have liked, but it could be the lull I was in with my reading. 

Overall, The Family Game gave me everything I wanted (rebuild my attention span after short video content dwindled it to nothing!!) and more!! I feel satiated by the thriller gods and am already excited for my next read!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, and Violence

javafenn's review against another edition

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

4.0

Catherine Steadman is an author that is have unwittingly gravitated towards. I love her slow burn suspense and her narration is spectacular! The fact that she narrates her own books is kind of what draws me to her. I also really love that her stories involve a lot of mystery without being TOO mysterious and the main character doesn’t seem unreliable. In this story, Harriet (Harry) Reed is getting married into one of America’s most wealthy families. Her future husband, Edward, seems to have steered clear of them for several years because, he claims, they are overbearing and he implies they are scary. She joins Edward to visit his family for Thanksgiving where she meets the patriarch, a handsome, powerful man who immediately seems to read Harriet from the moment he sees her. That first dinner together proves to be the spark that ignites the fire of this off putting family and Harriet. As she finds out, everyone has secrets and those secrets can be used against you. I loved not knowing who was good and who was bad and I also loved how it ended, I just wish *blank* wasn’t the bad one. Also, the hard use of the word “cunt” towards the end was so fantastically wonderful and appropriate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Addiction, Suicide, Vomit, Alcohol, and Abortion

Minor: Cursing, Abortion, and Drug abuse

whitenoise's review

adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Honestly, a rip off of the movie "Ready or Not" with some changes, but if this interests you I suggest you watch that instead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Vomit, Gun violence, Stalking, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse

marissa_mace's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Mental illness, and Suicide

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abortion, Grief, and Alcohol