Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

35 reviews

sabrinalefebvre's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.5

While the book did deal with some pretty dark themes, I was expecting on page graphic scenes, which honestly didn’t really happen.

I didn’t have the right expectations going into this book, I will concede.

However, when I first started reading, I was bored out of my mind for the first 150-200 pages-ish. I thought the pacing was also a bit off at first, and I was pretty confused about the plot. Some things weren’t explained or didn’t make sense, some characters magically figured something out out of the blue. 

While I did enjoy the dad’s chapters, I don’t see the point in them. To me, they didn’t really add anything to the story. Perhaps showing the perspective of a grieving father?

Ngl, I kinda knew what was going to happen in the first pages, it wasn’t that hard to figure out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Rape, Addiction, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abandonment and Sexism

katybugggg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Excrement, Blood, Confinement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Fatphobia

amsswim's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. Devastating look into a family torn apart by a missing sister. While I was able to predict some of the twists, the details and other parts kept me very interested and caught me off guard. My final listening session (today), I started at 60% and listened to the rest. Really picked up in the end, despite the beginning not really even dragging. The actions of the main characters felt believable and detailed. Overall a good read.

This was incredibly violent and graphic, so I'd recommend reading warnings before starting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Vomit, Child death, Death, Body horror, Drug use, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Misogyny, Car accident, Sexism, Classism, Dementia, and Medical content

Minor: Cannibalism

heathermarie08's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Loved this book! It was a little slow in the beginning but it quickly picked up and held my interest the entire time. If you like intense crime stories, this is definitely for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Rape, Physical abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Abandonment, and Addiction

Minor: Vomit and Car accident

jusreadz's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical content, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Grief, Death, Violence, and Sexual violence

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

A vastly gripping psychological thriller that packs punch after disturbing punch of twisted lies and chilling in-depth details about a young woman’s disappearance.

Claire and Lydia, estranged sisters brought back together by another tragedy, embark on a journey almost twenty-five years old as new clues come to light about their older sister, Julia, who went missing when she was nineteen and was never found. Nothing is as it seems as present begins to connect rather ominously with the past.

This was my first Karin Slaughter book and man, did it deliver. It’s definitely a very dark book that seems to get darker with each shocking turn, not shying away from grisly facts or chilling thoughts. The writing was intense, fast-paced, evocative. Slaughter’s words made the story so vivid and realistic, my heart pounding the whole way through as if I were one of Julia’s sisters, too. 

If you’re a fan of Gillian Flynn, you’ll also devour this one. I found their writing styles quite similar and engaging.

I loved the way this story played out, the different story arcs that came to fruition. Of course, the subject matter is even more sinister then you’d imagine out the gate, but it was used so well in this one. 

I suspect I will be thinking of this book for a long time!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Alcoholism, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Addiction, Gore, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Excrement, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, and Gun violence

Minor: Body horror

rachelparker's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Excrement, Grief, Infidelity, Blood, Fatphobia, Child death, Drug use, Murder, Torture, Gore, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Stalking, Body horror, Suicide, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Addiction, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

lauramparis's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Slavery

Moderate: Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Abandonment, Cursing, and Misogyny

Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, Car accident, and Drug use

nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Police brutality, Car accident, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Murder, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Confinement, Abandonment, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Addiction, Cursing, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

dakotahrey'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book made me afraid to sleep at night. The writing is beautifully done and I can see why it had raving reviews. I love that the story is told from many perspectives that are valuable to the story and the character's lives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Torture, Trafficking, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment