Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse

4 reviews

frogggirl2's review against another edition

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

3.0

This serial killer premise is unoriginal, there's too much explanation for why she is the way she is, and the narrative voice is deeply unpleasant.  The excessively short chapters, journal entry style, daily minutae, boyfriend drama, and catty tone make this feel like an evil Bridget Jones.

This book just keeps doing the same things over and over, and her narrative voice doesn't change, so it's just really tiring to read this un-pc, fat phobic, agist, condescending, judgemental POV for 450 pages.

She tells so many unnecessary lies, and it's frustratingly ludicrous that she wouldn't get called on them.  Especially when she's lying to a journalist - why make up a lie that you could easily disprove with a google search?  The book letting the character get away with this undermines the believability of the book overall.

I wanted to like this - it's occasionally funny, and she's mostly hunting rapists and pedophiles so there's a justified revenge element. Ultimately, although it was a quick, easy read, there was nothing memorable here, and it wasn't as funny as it was grating and unrealistic.
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clotalksbooks's review against another edition

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

3.75

Well that was dark! Similar in style to a couple of more recent books I have read (How to Kill your family/how to kill men and get away with it), and initially I wasn't as big a fan of the writing in this one. I feel some things went a little far for my taste, and there is A LOT of sex - not necessarily a bad thing, just unexpected. 

It is darkly funny, you feel terrible for laughing. I think it depends what order you read the similar books in to be honest, as you can't help but compare. 

There are some very unexpected twists and turns which I loved, my mouth hit the floor on occasion. By the end I was hooked and will read the rest of the series.

The narrator is perfect, so I will stick to audio for the rest of the series too. 
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amberinbookland's review against another edition

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funny fast-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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jbistheinitial's review against another edition

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dark funny tense 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? Yes

4.0

I’ve just done the CN notes and honestly it would be quicker to list what Sweetpea doesn’t include. But for all that it’s a brutally funny and page-turning take on Bridget Jones-meets-American Psycho. 
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