Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

14 reviews

leblcr1's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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: Torture

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicide

emilyholds's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty

miraculeus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

I really liked the (dark) atmosphere and the descriptions of nature in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Child death, Abandonment, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty

fivecatsinacoat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Torture, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty

allie_cat3's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

A good mystery, if a very sad one. I thought the use of psychic was silly, though. The author seems New Age-y. 
I liked the descriptions of Mendocino but I wish she had gone into more detail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Car accident, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcoholism

bookwormfr_t0's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I loved the trauma theories involved in this - it truly brought it to life and felt raw.  It did take my almost half the book to really get committed to it, but it was worth it.  I never felt attached to our main character, Anna, but I did feel for Cameron and wanted to know how her story-line would wrap up.  And I think the great incorporation of trauma theory is what really drove this.

Despite the short chapters, this is not a novel to read quickly; in fact, the short chapters threw me off a bit because it read choppy at times.  The number of characters is vast and I had to write down who everyone was and their role in the novel - but that might just be me since I took nearly a month to read this.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, and Child death

Moderate: Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Animal cruelty

sarahmarie094's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Rape, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Child abuse

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Car accident

_everybookthisyear's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

Moderate: Child abuse and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal cruelty and Rape

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Torture

madeline's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, and Child death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, and Sexual assault