Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

10 reviews

keppers_jax's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? N/A

4.0

I'm only a fan of ghost stories when Simone St. James tells them. This dual narrator audio was extremely well done! 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape and Sexism

Minor: Racism

vj_thompson's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I would totally read a spin-off series where Carly solves missing persons cases. Overall loved the writing and the story. There were so many good moments, and I was on the edge of my seat reading this book. Will be reading more of Simone St. James’s novels. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Death of parent

steffi_23's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

I did enjoy the story but there were several moments in the writing that made me go … was that really necessary. Yes a lot of the story is set in the 80s but some remarks were unnecessary

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

natbrooke94's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Racism, and Lesbophobia

notenchanted's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

0.25

this is one of the worst books i’ve ever read and i would give it 0 stars if i could. the writing is horrendous, the plot moves quickly but is somehow still unbelievably boring, the main character’s entire personality is “i’m not like other girls because i read BOOKS and wear SWEATSHIRTS”…i could go on and on about the flaws here. not to mention that there are multiple instances of extremely problematic nonsense ranging from misogyny to homophobia to racism and if the author intended them to come across as critical, in my opinion that was not clear.

on top of all that, the way this story unfolds is too convenient and easy without much explanation — the woman renting her aunt’s house JUST HAPPENS to be looking for a roommate and doesn’t charge rent because she just wants a friend?? the motel where her aunt works JUST HAPPENS to be hiring the moment she moves to town??

this is lazy writing at its worst and i cannot comprehend the 5 star ratings for this book. would have DNF’d it if i didn’t spend money on it. no hate to anyone who liked it, i just don’t understand

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Racism

libraryghost's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Terminal illness

beckyremillard's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

Carly is looking into the disappearance of her aunt, Vivian, which occurred 35 years ago. Her mother died without ever discussing it and Carly wants answers. She goes to the town Viv disappeared from, Fell, to check it out. 

The story is told in 2017 from Carly’s perspective and in 1982 from Viv’s perspective. A lot of information is discovered twice, when Viv finds out in 1982 and when Carley finds out in 2017. 

This book definitely held my interest and I did not want to put it down. 

I didn’t expect there to be actual ghosts. Most thrillers I read, the “ghosts” are explained away by something else. I feel like the paranormal aspect of it should be more announced, I might have reached for the book sooner. 

Also, I was expecting there so be some tie in with the mother. She was so adamant about not wanting to discuss Viv, I thought she’d have known about her or something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Rape, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Death of parent

Minor: Mental illness

taelights's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this book so much. Both Viv and Carly's POVs held my interest throughout and I enjoyed seeing the connections between their stories. Listening to them piece together the same basic mystery but at different times and using different clues was actually really interesting! It never made me bored or felt repetitive at all. Also this book had so many twists I didn't see coming. 

Also the mix between mystery, crime thriller, and supernatural horror was perfect. The author did an amazing job writing all of these elements, especially the creepy spooky ones. Adding in ghosts just added to the story and setting so well. 

The only thing I didn't like was one element of the ending.

I was disappointed with Viv's ending. I don't think she should have confessed. Between her confessing and having cancer I thought her being revealed as alive was pointless. It's like oh cool this character I got attached to but thought was dead is actually alive! Yay! Oh wait… she's now either going to die soon from cancer or rot in prision for the rest of her life when she literally could and should have kept getting away with this crime.

But overall this was a very amazing read that I deeply enjoyed! I can't wait to check out more books by Simone St. James now as I definitely loved her writing style in this book. 

Edit:  I just looked up the author and saw she's cis het so it kind of makes me uncomfortable and not like her because she used lesbian slurs in her writing. Using the word dyke in her writing was unnecessary to begin with but knowing she's heterosexual and using it leaves a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth. I'll still read Book of Cold Cases through the library but I'm glad I didn't pick it as my BOTM like I almost did because I won't be financially supporting her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Homophobic and lesphobic slurs written by a cis het author.

katereadstuff's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Cursing, Racism, Sexual violence, and Grief

jesspages's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

While there were some things I saw coming, the suspense and the story were so enthralling that I was hooked until the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Racism, and Rape

Minor: Cancer and Mental illness