Reviews tagging 'Violence'

You're Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

29 reviews

tabby2920's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Mind blown after reading this one! The twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat. I really didn't know where this was going and I loved the ride that I was put on with this thrilling mystery. Fans of Lucy Foley and Gillian Flynn will love to read this one by Jayatissa!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

dhutton1997's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

For the first half of this book, I hated every single character especially Amaya. However, by the middle of it, I was hooked. So good and everything is wrapped up by the end and man will it blow your mind! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Violence, Self harm, Stalking, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

iamnita's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was an absolute banger. If you’re in a reading slump this is for you. It moves steady and I love the way the chapters are built. The story is very involved but told in a way that didn’t feel overwhelming. It had a lot of reference to Sri Lankan culture but does so in an educational way that left me feeling included. It is an absolutely solid read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Minor: Gun violence and Violence

mariahkindareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy

gelly's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I got this book as BOTM pick because the synopsis and cover reminded me of a phone game I liked to play, I know weird reason to get a book. So I thought it was just going to be a fun little thriller mystery, but it really grabbed me. From the very first chapter, I was itching to know what had happened 5 years ago, what the secrets were, who's lying, what happened to Kaavi, and then even in the final chapter there's one last little twist. All the characters, starting with the main one Amaya, are unreliable narrators. They all have secrets, they all lie, they all want to protect themselves and until the end you don't know who to trust. 

I really liked the mystery, I thought the author did a really good job jumping between past and present creating a timeline of events, and I appreciate that there are no loose ends, every mystery and secret is revealed because, personally, I find it annoying when I'm reading a mystery and end up with more questions than answers but what took this book from 4 1/2 stars to 5 for me were the final chapters which focus on Kaavi's POV. Not only because we get to finally see who she really is and we get a lot of answers but because we get to see that she and Amaya aren't that different after all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Murder

It isn't graphic or explicit but there is mention of an abusive relationship as well as a character being revealed to be a pedophile. Main character often has graphic thoughts about harming others.

blackcatkai's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

CW: casual ableism, self-harm (on page), violence, death, blood, gun violence, mental illness, trauma, alcohol use, sex, slut/body shaming, domestic abuse, gaslighting/catfishing, misogyny, brief mentions of drug addiction and pedophilia (not graphic)

this was quite the ride with a bunch of twists & turns, especially in the end. love me a book with rich people drama, even if it's not the entire focus in a story. will definitely pick up more from Jayatissa in the future, this was so easy to get into.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Sexism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Classism

Minor: Car accident, Drug use, Pedophilia, and Ableism

lbsalas's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Emotional abuse, Stalking, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Violence

cassielaj's review against another edition

mysterious tense

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

2.75

I liked this until I didn’t… that’s the best way to explain it. It was definitely twisty and I wanted to know what happened, but there was no real sense of urgency or high-stakes situation, partly because I didn’t like the characters. I also thought that the book was reallyyyy front heavy, with a lot of time dedicated to the rising action and very little time spent on explaining the “big twists”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Self harm, Addiction, Murder, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Sexual violence

bree_of_the_woods's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

0.75

Truly a bizarre read. 
Very slow going, with disturbed MC who has very dark, violent thoughts about others and engages in self-harm. 
All of the characters are unpleasant in varying degrees. Towards the end, Jayatissa begins throwing in so many plot twists/fact reveals that feel like a few too many. Ending was an abrupt, bizarre wrap-up, that left one major line of facts out of the final “whodunnit story” and none of the characters ask about it, and then you get more layers of unpleasant characters that by the last page I was left with a very “what the heck did I just read” sort of bad taste in my mouth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gun violence and Self harm

Minor: Pregnancy and Pedophilia

eleber's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Pedophilia