Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

27 reviews

tlaynejones's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a cute twisty contemporary murder mystery. There is a bit of a book within a book plot which adds an extra layer of interest, and I enjoyed the idea of the book (that I’m reading) being critiqued chapter by chapter as a literary device. This is great for when you want something that will engage you and entertain you without too much effort. It’s not gory, and wasn’t particularly dark (considering it’s a murder mystery) in tone. There were a few chuckles; I figured out the murderer early on, but not how the murderer actually did the murder-y things, so the ending was still a good result. The character development and relationships aren’t very fleshed out, and one of the characters was so annoying, but I think that’s sort of the nature of this style/genre. No queer rep.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, Vomit, Murder, Physical abuse, and Classism

Minor: Sexual violence, Torture, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tabookish's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Child abuse, Death, Racism, and Sexual content

regaliaofchaos's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, and Stalking

Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug abuse, and Blood

reallycooper's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual violence

abijoyceshaw's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

The premise of a mystery novel within a mystery novel is interesting on a surface level. I enjoyed watching the secondary narrative unravel. The novel seemed to be building toward two climatic reveals, but I found the culmination of both narratives dissatisfying. The characters were fairly interesting, but they weren’t given enough depth for me to get attached.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Death, and Murder

ladylothlorien's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.75

So good! I was intrigued to see where the epistolary element would really come into play. At first I was super into the “story within the story” plot line and then I absolutely had to know where the epistolary plot line was going! I had kind of guessed the end of both plot lines ahead of time but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment. I’m so happy to find this author has written a bunch of other books because now I am absolutely going to read her back catalog!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Sexual violence and Racism

The racism and sexual violence are brief mentions and are not very detailed. The murder descriptions are mainly what you would expect from a murder mystery but on a few occasions there are brief somewhat graphic descriptions.

2122's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I really really enjoyed this! I read it for my book club and it kept us hooked the whole way through mainly because we had no idea where the story was going and who was responsible for all this chaos. It was quite fast paced and easy to read with chapters being only a few pages. 

I think the ending was pretty packed together but it would’ve been nice if we had a few hints along the way. I’m not sure if this is done on purpose because this story is essentially a manuscript. Not sure about the very end of the book because I’m pretty sure this is stand alone but I guess we make our own assumptions. At first it was confusing with what was going on with the emails and the actual story but I think it was cool. Wish we could’ve gotten a bit more out of it. Overall, I really enjoyed it but that was because I could speculate with others. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Violence, Medical content, and Stalking

Moderate: Drug use, Incest, Addiction, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, and Alcohol

sammykay25's review against another edition

dark mysterious

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

3.5

I feel pretty neutral towards this book. I liked the writing a lot and the way there were dueling plots. But some things irked me like Marigold and Whit. They were both obnoxious, a little ridiculous, and Marigold was downright creepy. I could tell I was supposed to like them and I simply couldn't stand either of them. I also was able to predict the ending pretty easily so it kinda fell flat for me. But I didn't quite understand the last sentence which was intriguing. Overall, mostly fun with some annoyances.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual violence and Rape

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content, Death, Cursing, Murder, and Stalking

Minor: Body horror, Classism, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Gun violence

rmgiannino's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Rape, and Medical content