Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

258 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.

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

aimyreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have no words! None! 

 It’s not often I’m left this shaken by a book but damn! This was one hell of a ride that I did not want to get off of. Yes it has a lot of gore (that I skipped over) but this book also has so much heart and soul! 
 The Dads letters to his missing daughter are gut wrenchingly beautiful. Lydia and Claire’s relationship is so amazing to unpack. The mother’s denial is also so well fleshed out. 
 I couldn’t fault this book even if I tried. Loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Torture, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Body horror, Violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Kidnapping, Addiction, Suicide, and Infidelity

sandreamy's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide, and Murder

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

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

beegster16's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Sexual violence, Torture, and Child abuse

Moderate: Infidelity, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide

ash_michelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Violence, Confinement, Death of parent, Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Fatphobia, Addiction, Body shaming, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Excrement, and Vomit

madicastle's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Body horror, Excrement, Suicide, Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child death, Confinement, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Torture