Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

80 reviews

bookwormmomma91's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.25

Overly dark gruesome details of SA

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Addiction, Body horror, Child death, and Sexual violence

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.

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

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

taitestrasner's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.0

i really don’t know how to feel. SUCH a page turner, it was so hard for me to put this down, & when i did, i couldn’t stop thinking about it. my faults with this book, though, are that i feel like it was too gruesome. i feel like 50+ pages of disgusting, gory details could’ve been left out and we still would have gotten the same story. it was a LOT and personally a heavy read for me. i LOVE crime/mystery/murder books, but at some points this was a really hard read for me. other than that, i loved the story! so insane, some of the plot twists had be audibly screaming through out the whole chapter. if you can handle gore, this is definitely for you!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Body horror, Blood, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Rape, Torture, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Alcohol, and Infidelity

loudonuts's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.0

a gruesome story that was ultimately about the bond between sisters. it didn’t exceed my expectations but it was an okay thriller. at the beginning the hyper descriptive violence was shocking and intense, but by the end of it, it felt pretty gratuitous. was the aim to desensitise me, or was it just bad at keeping me engaged? unfortunately i’m not sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Child death, Rape, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Self harm, Stalking, Gaslighting, Death, Torture, Blood, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Infidelity, Addiction, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Addiction, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Blood, and Drug use

knitwitte8's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

This one kept me engaged from early on - which is exactly what I look for in a book. It's graphic and difficult at points, so that's something to get through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Gore, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

jessmv87's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Gore, Drug use, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Car accident, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Gaslighting, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Murder, Misogyny, Suicide, and Torture

sassidylooksy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence