Reviews

Killingly by Katharine Beutner

cherry_lake's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is not a genre I normally read. But I was fully caught by the story pretty early in.

Things I loved:
- The prose!! The descriptions! The metaphors.
- the slow burn mystery and trickle of new revelations
- the impossible way that the author handled some of the heaviest topics in a way that did not feel gratuitous but had an equally mundane and otherworldly quality.
- the characters were so good.

This book is slow paced! Not for those who want action or constant answers. Also could be extremely triggering, as it depicts a lot of shitty stuff. 

I didn’t find out until after that it was based on true facts around a missing person case. It certainly answered some of my questions, namely, how was that short story written!? But anyway so good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Abortion, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Child death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Terminal illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Violence, and Incest

nicolesa's review

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

rosasparks's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

3.0

etherealsuju's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

lazide's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.25

wearyinsomniac's review

emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, and Abortion

meminger's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Incest, Medical content, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Mental illness, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Suicide attempt

fkshg8465's review

dark emotional informative mysterious sad slow-paced

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

1.0

Such a huge disappointment. Being a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, I was really looking forward to this book. The only thing I got out of it was nostalgia for my days on campus. Poorly written, boring, boring, and boring. The author used the premise of a real disappearance as a platform for superficial feminist  topics. Would’ve been better as a real crime story than an historical recreation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Abortion, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

kwough's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

mcearl12's review

4.0

Good read! Original.