Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Homecoming by Kate Morton

9 reviews

anne_reader's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, Grief, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Animal death, Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Infertility

dkamada's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Wonderful book but the pacing was not the best. The first 30% is really slow and the majority of the plot twists are in the last 5-10%, but really interesting from multiple perspectives revealing the plot and the book within a book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, and Kidnapping

gbevan's review

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Child death

Minor: Abandonment, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

graceolivia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

2.5

I begrudgingly finished it mostly to find out if my initial theory was right, one of the twists is very obvious the other seemed underdeveloped. As a whole it felt like the pacing was off, it was very slow until the last 3 or 4 chapters which attempted to answer all of the questions in quick succession. I think it would have benefited from more time spent with the characters coming to terms with the developments and less specific details and time in the first three quarters of the book.  

It really frustrated me that Nora was never considered to be incredibly manipulative, Jess seems to forgive her instantly for taking her away from her mother. Polly felt like she should have been the main character, I was far more interested in her thoughts and experiences. It seemed odd that her and Jess never had a proper conversation about why she actually left her with Nora. The pillow lie (x2) never gets acknowledged and apparently multiple people knew Isobel was innocent and said nothing. Marcus seemingly either forgives Meg for killing his best friend and his brothers girlfriend or doesn’t figure out it was her, either way it’s not believable. The idea that the whole thing happened as a snap decision to ‘punish’ Isobel also doesn’t make sense as it doesn’t align with Megs personality, it would be far more believable that Nora did it.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Infertility, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

reading_ladies_blog's review

sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

I didn't connect as well with the main character as I usually do in her novels.   Otherwise, it would be five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Classism, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Murder, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

tamara_joy's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Child death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Suicide

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Animal death, Infertility, and Miscarriage

lilifane's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

There is a reason why Kate Morton is an auto-buy author for me.
I just love her stories, the dual timeline, the multi-generational family mysteries, the amazing settings and atmosphere. This one is no exception. 

When you've read Kate Morton before, you will anticipate certain plot twists and revelations. And even if you haven't, I think the main mystery in this book is pretty obvious and easy to guess rather quickly. This was the reason I thought it would only be a 4-star book for me. But then towards the end, more details were revealed than I could dream of, and I was left broken-hearted (also a recurring experience with Kate Morton novels). 

This book is long, though, and it has taken me quite long to finish it. It's very slow and character focused, which I love. But in addition to that, it also has a book within a book. Since I love this narrative device, I was pleasantly surprised that it was included here. Plus, it's a true crime novel about the events of the main story. And the way this true-crime book was written just blew me away. I had the same feeling I had when I read In Cold Blood, which had left a lasting impression on me when I read it a few years ago. 

The themes in this book were a little too close to home sometimes. A lot of complicated mother-daughter-dynamics. Great exploration of motherhood from several points of view, and also great representation of women who don't want to become mothers. And as a bonus, a love letter to stories and storytelling and how much it can influence people's lives and memories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Suicide, Child death, Gaslighting, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: War, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Medical content

silverhill's review

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Infertility, Infidelity, and Kidnapping