Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

53 reviews

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

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

Minor: Body horror

sassafrasscommon's review against another edition

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

4.0

Pretty decent thriller. The twists were cool but the ending was a little underwhelming, predictable. Definitely a page turner though, and I was thoroughly entertained. Some funky off-comments about POC in the beginning as well… couldn’t tell what the purpose of that was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

abbymackenzie'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

claireeturner525's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

tmoore65's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

This book was moving at a medium pace at first but as soon as I got to about the halfway mark it sped up considerably and within the last 100 pages I couldn’t put it down. I have never read a book as dark and graphic as this one before and I definitely think this was a good way to get into that style of writing. This book was tragic and slightly gory but it never felt excessive. With every twist and added layer my heart just sunk farther and farther. Not for the faint of heart. Amidst all of the horrors this book details there is also a beautiful story about a family and how they’ve dealt with trauma and how new traumas bring them back together. <slight spoiler>Definitely not a happy ending but at least the family can start on a new leaf at the end<slight spoiler>.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

traumaqueen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

missmichalalynn's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

dannybrown59's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

Wow. This book had me on the edge of my seat. It is extremely dark and disturbing. Very graphic so definitely pay attention to the trigger warnings before reading. You really feel the grief and sadness of the characters as you read this. Especially with the journal entries. It was hard to stomach at times. I just love the way this was written with how it goes between the sisters and the dad. You can see how the loss of Julia affected everyone. Even the mom who tried to hide it so well. As I kept reading this I kept hoping for the best for this broken family but things just kept getting worse. As the crimes get unsurfaced things just get bleaker. I was really happy with the ending as well. All of my questions got answered and it ended on a better note.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming

breannamarie619's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

3.75

Great writing and characters but the violence is gratuitous and heavy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol