Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

481 reviews

lampbee's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

I can’t tell if i loved or hated this book. It’s very violent in its depictions, at some point it felt needless or even voyeuristic? I didn’t like that element of it especially given the whole plot of the book. The premise I feel was solid and I liked the execution it was just a lot more grim with a lot less payoff than I expected. However I liked the development and the twists not being predictable/trite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Drug use, Gun violence, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Gore

Moderate: Car accident, Drug abuse, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Addiction

The description of Lydia getting

waterboarded with paul’s piss

was a bit intense to the point of me not being sure what the purpose was. Obviously to show

that Paul is evil/irredeemable and is willing to sexually abuse Claire’s sister

but it felt gratuitous. The same I feel could be said for the description of the photos

I understand that gore was required to get their heinous crimes across but the description of the mutilated and cleaved girl hanging from barn rafters while blood-soaked and fully erect men posed for a photo was a lot to take in and I wonder how much detail was required to get the point across

. Maybe I just prefer for rape culture to be referenced or described on a more nuanced level and something of this level wasn’t going to hit — but at very least there can be no debate over whether the crime was “all that bad”. I will say though, I’m probably not the only one, by the end of the book

I was hoping Paul would have to endure some of the torture he doled out. He kept Julia alive for two weeks, I would’ve liked to see him have to endure something of that caliber not a strained but quick death in a forest.

I’m very uninterested in women not stooping to their attackers level , they need to get even, idc.

vyclayton's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

It's a bit violent and very sad, but had me hooked. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Rape

chynnadoll's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

My life is worse for having read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Drug use, Body horror, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Sexual assault, Violence, Mental illness, Torture, Rape, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Murder, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Blood, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Alcoholism

k_stern's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

A bit too graphic for me - although this could be chalked up to me listening to the book in my car. Tied up well but a few too many conveniences for my taste. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Murder, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Vomit, Stalking, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Addiction

hannahchung's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Self harm, Death, Violence, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Alcoholism, Suicide, Murder, and Gore

seekinglucidity's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Addiction, Drug use, Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Violence, Gore, Murder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Grief, Stalking, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Police brutality, Car accident, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Suicide

madsreadsbooks17's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Rape, Blood, Death, Gore, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Addiction, Body shaming, and Suicide

amyg677's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Deeply disturbing and twisted but so hard to put down

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Car accident, Death, and Confinement

bluemc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Gun violence, Gore, Rape, and Child death

Moderate: Drug use

abigail8908's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Overall, I thought that the story was compelling, the ending was believable, and the writing was good throughout. 

My main gripe is that the author repeats several tropes, names, and unique language devices across stories. 

Here are the things Slaughter’s The Good Sister has in common with Pretty Girls:

• Tragedy affects sisters as children
• Scientifically-minded parent
• One is a victim
• Estranged sisters
• Estrangement ends when sister explicitly states “My sister needs me”
• Use of name Quinn
• Use of name Sam 
• Use of name or nickname Huckaby/Huckleberry
• Main character with “inhospitable womb”

Having read these novels back-to-back, these things jumped out at me as I was reading and made it hard to stay submerged in the story. 

I think Slaughter’s stories are compelling. I’m honestly baffled by the repetition. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Torture, and Sexual violence

Minor: Drug abuse