Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

50 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.

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

adub345's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

0.25

I hated this so much. 

I committed to reading this for a book club and it wasy first buddy read otherwise I would have DNF'd it multiple times. 

The plot was not only twisty but also twisted. There was no need for the amount of descriptive scenes of torture porn throughout the book. 

My list of trigger warnings for this is about as long as each chapter in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Police brutality, Rape, Torture, Blood, Death, Murder, Kidnapping, Violence, Physical abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Pedophilia

annabananaful's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Death, Kidnapping, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Gore, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Confinement

dsvperez's review

dark tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Stalking, Sexual violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, and Rape

Minor: Addiction

zoedonn's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

2.5

So so graphic!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Suicide, and Torture

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, and Drug abuse

Minor: Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Check your trigger warnings before your read this book. It was hard to get through.

bookmuva's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

4.25

I put this book down for months around chapter seven, but once I picked it back up I was hooked. Although it was a bit predictable, there were definitely twists and points caught me off guard. Picked up two more books by the author in hopes they’re similar! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Sexual violence, Rape, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Sexism, Torture, Confinement, and Toxic relationship

megankriegel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Rape, Death, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Sexual assault, and Gore

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Gun violence, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit

zarakoconnor's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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

5.0

Absolutely gut wrenching story. Heartbreaking and mysterious that made me have to know what happened next. It’s heavy so take the time to process it and take care of your mental health but for those who love dark gory thrillers, it is perfect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Body shaming, Torture, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Grief, Kidnapping, and Police brutality

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Misogyny, Suicide, and Infidelity

Minor: Abandonment