Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse

14 reviews

read_a_lottie's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

frogggirl2's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Blood, Gore, Infertility, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Misogyny

taggy96's review against another edition

challenging sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Sexual assault

katndrsn's review

dark medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexism, Fatphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Stalking, and Rape

Minor: Abortion, Vomit, and Infertility

bees_knees735's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was such a weird, fun read. Rhiannon is bad but in a way you can’t help but find kinda great and the voice of the whole thing is so engaging I read it in a couple of days. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Blood, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death of parent, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Pregnancy, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

sumo98's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A quick read, and the author does a great job at getting inside the brain of a serial killer. Very heavy subjects, and quite fucked up at times (even for a serial killer). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Body horror, Gore, Gaslighting, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, Rape, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

book_lover707's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

3.0

this was an impulsive purchase from the works because it was £3 and honestly surprised me with how entertaining it was. VERY explicit in a lot of area and way too much weird sex stuff for my taste but the rest of the story made up for it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

frannydo's review against another edition

Just got tired of the story and wasn’t picking it up enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Kidnapping, Violence, and Mental illness

maisiehobbs's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Rape, and Violence

singalana's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Cursing, Rape, Mental illness, Infidelity, Abortion, Body shaming, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Death of parent, Vomit, Stalking, and Sexual violence

Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, and Animal cruelty