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Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Infertility
“His mouth is a small and dirty-looking orifice, as puckered as an asshole.”
and that’s NOT in one of the “amateur writer” sections 🙃
Graphic: Violence, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Infertility
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder
Minor: Infertility
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Blood
It was odd at first - the plot revolves around a caricatured red-pilled neckbeard type who goes after a reader who gave his published book one star.
But some of the complaints the fictional reader had were complaints I had about the real author's previous books, namely about writing women badly and exploitive violence. So at first, I was like 😬 WHOOPS IS THIS GUY GONNA COME KILL ME?! (The author's note assures us all he won't.)
But because of this, it was difficult to tell if he was satirizing his own criticism or not seeing himself in it.
REGARDLESS, it was imperfect but action-packed and tightly plotted with about five (well done) false endings and I had a great time. And oh yeah: the dog is OK!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Infertility, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder
i absolutely loved No Exit by this author so i thought this had to be good. i think the premise is super interesting and different, but it fell short. while this was definitely tense and action-packed, it was almost too much. there was an absurd amount of twists and turns that weren’t executed well. it felt like the authors gun ran out of bullets so they just started throwing rocks. these twists were predictable while also feeling so unnecessary and overdone. also the ending??? what kind of hallmark/lifetime movie did this turn into at the end?
*slight spoiler****
also, if you’re an author and you’re writing a mystery or thriller and it is based around one of the main “villains” having a mental illness, just don’t???? this heavily perpetuates mental health stereotypes and stigmas, which simply aren’t true. this is so played out and just downright harmful and inaccurate.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
The book is about Emma, a woman isolated in a beach house in the Pacific Northwest. She spends her days reading e-books and gives one a one-star rating. Then she is haunted and hunted, and it could be by the author of the book.
The Last Word is an excellent thriller. It was so eerie at the beginning that I had to read it in the daytime. There are lots of twists, it kept me interested, and it is filled with tension, excitement, and raw emotions. This is my first time reading a book by Taylor Adams and he did not disappoint!
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Murder
Emma gets more than she expects when she leaves a one-star review of a book…only to begin being stalked by the author.
Thus concludes my mini Taylor Adams marathon! This was probably the one I was most excited to get to because the premise sounded so interesting, and it ended up being the scariest of the bunch—seriously, I’m not even sure why, but it freaked me out SO much I had to only read during the daytime.
That said, I did find most of the twists predictable and felt like, while this one was engaging, it moved along more slowly than the previous Adams books I read. I definitely wouldn’t say I disliked this one (seriously, I wouldn’t, and neither would you if you read what an angry author might do!) (kidding, I think) but it was not my favorite either.
Overall, though, I had a good time and I’m glad I read this. It’s a pretty solid thriller with some creative moments, and a great choice if you’re not ready to let go of spooky season just yet!
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: isolated settings; grief recovery mixed with thrillers; books about books
CW: Suicide; death/murder; child death; animal harm; gore/blood/violence/gun violence; infertility
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder