Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Friend Request by Laura Marshall

7 reviews

dblue236'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

4.0

Trigger warnings: Bullying, gaslighting, death of a child, suicide, kidnapping, domestic violence, sexual assault. 

I had never previously heard anything about this book and I'm fairly certain I've never picked up another book by this author, but this one definitely left me wanting to seek out more of her work. There are a number of things about it that could potentially be triggering so that is something to be aware of, but the story grabbed me from the first page and I never did manage to figure out exactly how it was going to end. I didn't necessarily LIKE any of the characters, but they were very well written and I couldn't wait to see how it all unfolded. I definitely recommend this for anyone who's interested in ensemble thrillers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, and Pregnancy

melamc's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Bullying

Moderate: Murder and Rape

lwelch94's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Fatphobia, Murder, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

b00ks_d0gs's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Sexual assault, Bullying, Murder, and Stalking

Minor: Suicide and Domestic abuse

michelles_book_nook's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

⚠️ TW: bullying, fat shaming, drug use, biphobia, peer pressure, infertility/IVF, drink spiking/drugging, stalking, kidnapping, rape, graphic content, murder, psychological and sexual domestic violence ⚠️ This book follows Louise who throughout her adult life has had her school life niggling away in the back of her mind despite her trying to free herself and get on with her life for herself and her son, Henry. But one day she receives a friend request on Facebook from an old school friend, Maria Weston, and she dragged straight back to her school days. However, this friend request has to be fake because Maria died 25 years ago (or did she?). With this new worry looming over Maria she decides to attend a school reunion but this only causes everything in her life to spiral and make her question everything she once thought she knew. This book is filled with twists, turns and surprises and is a really good slow burn but unfortunately it didn't quite hit the mark for me. Initially I had mixed emotions for Louise but in the end my heart went out to her and I felt so sorry for her. However, I absolutely hated Sam, and the final few chapters made me feel sick iykyk 🤢 He came across as incredibly condescending in the beginning and then his true colours shone through in the end. However my main issues with this read were that the ending felt very rushed to me and I think if it was better paced throughout then it would have helped prevent that. And I felt the use of BDSM and 'less vanilla sex' rode the very fine line of being kink shaming and I felt that it was an unnecessary way of trying to cause more dislike towards Sam. Overall though if you like a good psychological, slow burn thriller then this is definitely for you, just make sure to read the TW's.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Drug abuse, Rape, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Biphobia, Infertility, and Stalking

Minor: Fatphobia

coolbeancat'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping and Murder

markedwithanm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship