Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Brudstykker by Karin Slaughter

13 reviews

miranda_is_reading'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

4.0

First Karin Slaughter read! I was also delighted to discover this was mad into a show on Netflix. I’ll def be reading more of her books. Im interested to see where the second book in this series goes. 

This book is pretty violent and descriptive of gory scenes, so if you’re sensitive to topics I don’t suggest reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Mental illness, Child abuse, Cursing, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Addiction, Cancer, Medical content, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Self harm

Minor: Dementia, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Transphobia, Outing, and Incest

jerica'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is my first time reading this author, and it seems like fans of hers find this book somewhat disappointing and boring. I, however, was not at all disappointed or bored (and am slightly concerned for those who were bored while reading this).

There is an immense amount of detail, creativity, and care that went into writing this book. The only things keeping it from a 5-star rating are 1) there was one detail I read that didn't make sense and wasn't addressed again and 2) Andy and Laura made some really dumb decisions that made me want to scream. These decisions make the characters human though. We all say stupid things and make mistakes that, in hindsight, we should have known would backfire. Although it wasn't terribly easy to relate to the characters in many ways due to the unique storyline, they were very well-developed. 

I am usually someone who can predict everything that will happen. While I did predict quite a few things in this book, there was one point where my jaw literally fell open and I verbalized my disbelief aloud. I think that a majority of readers will find this story to be a rollercoaster with surprises at every turn! I also appreciated that, although this book addresses very dark topics, it does so in a way that (at least for me) does not create a trauma reaction for the reader. 

As usual, my review is an aimless rambling. Long story short: I highly recommend this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Torture

Minor: Incest, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Excrement, Body shaming, Dementia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Drug abuse, Rape, Vomit, and Sexual assault

malbenigno's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Torture, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Blood

Minor: Terminal illness, Cancer, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

natalya_c14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship

jinx_mars's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Classism, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Self harm, Racism, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

bleepbloop's review against another edition

adventurous tense

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

4.0

pretty fun and cinematic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Homophobia and Torture

Minor: Incest and Rape

bookworm247's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Torture, and Confinement

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

Another expertly written thriller from Karin Slaughter, who I think may be one of my favorite authors at this point. If you’re looking for something like “Pretty Girls” this isn’t that- so I understand why people give this a lower rating but I don’t think it’s fair. This isn’t supposed to be something that keeps you guessing or something that has a lot of very surprising twists, not that there aren’t twists or surprises, but the backstory/explanation slowly unfolds through a series of thrilling events and when you get to the climax of the story you had already seen it coming and you can’t look away. 
I’m a sucker for a good true crime/cult vibe and this is the perfect mixture. The story is told between two perspectives, present day Andrea and her mother Laura in the wake of a horrific public shooting they found themselves in the middle of, and the story of Jane and a group of friends in the early 80s unwittingly recruited into a extremist activist group that spirals out of control in the wake of one of their members acting impulsively off-plan. The two stories slowly weave their way closer to each other and converge, with many twists and turns along the way. 
As with every Karin Slaughter novel, the list of trigger warnings is EXTENSIVE so be mindful before picking it up. 

Edited to add: I had no idea that the author was choosing to continue Andrea’s story in her upcoming novel, which I had already unknowingly ordered in my BOTM! Can’t wait to see how this story continues

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Cursing, Blood, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Torture, Sexual assault, Incest, Grief, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy

bgoodbookclub's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This book was decent and I think the speed is what made it a 3.5 for me. It was super dense and hard to capture my attention because the background was so dense and thick. I am very interested to watch the Netflix show because I do believe that it will be easier to watch than to read.

I feel like if trigger/content warnings for Karin Slaughter books was a multiple choice question, the answer would be all of the above.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Minor: Drug use, Addiction, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Dementia, Suicide, and Rape

_chelseachelsea's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

I really enjoyed this one. It’s been a while since I read a thriller with great PACING (so many lately have felt endlessly slow) and Pieces of Her hits a real sweet-spot. Slaughter manages to balance the tone of both timelines quite well, so neither feels boring or arduous. Tense, darkly funny, and exciting enough to make me want to seek out more of her novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, and Violence