Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

48 reviews

bxnnny's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

greatly enjoyed the pace of the story, the plot, and the two different timelines coinciding. though it was pretty predicitable, it was enjoyable and i read through it in one day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Sexism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Blood, Pedophilia, and Cancer

murder, paranormal activity, and violence against women are main themes. rape is mentioned several times as well as some mentions of cancer. there are brief instances of homophobia and sexism. pedophilia is implied as well.

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

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

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Alcoholism

jupiter_01's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.25

It took me about 50 pages to get into the story because I didn't like either of the main characters at first. However, after that mark, my opinion changed, and I really enjoyed the dynamic and kinship between Viv, Marnie, and Alma. I was always keen to solve each mystery and I liked the plot twist (and it was a lesson for me to stop reading ahead!!). 

To me, Viv and the town's pot dealer--who had all of two interactions on screen--had a thousand time's more chemistry than Nick and Carly ever did. And he's 29 while she's 20!!! (ew.)

The end felt a little lacklustre, but it didn't leave me sad like I thought it would. I enjoyed the atmospheric writing and the story never dragged so I'll check out more from this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Sexual violence

christyco125's review

dark mysterious fast-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

4.5

Another good one by St. James. I love her mix of paranormal and mystery along with the split timeline POVs. While The who done it mystery only lasts to about halfway through the book, I didn’t mind. 

The story is more of an amateur sleuth crime procedural. Both MCs are in the process of proving her theory of what happened in November 1982. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Stalking, and Sexual violence

brandywinebooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child death, Cancer, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, and Kidnapping

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Mental illness, Stalking, Violence, and Gore

Minor: Cancer, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

madlock18's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Blood, Death, Violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Stalking

vkitoria's review

dark mysterious 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

4.25

part ghost story, part murder mystery, in dual timelines. and well written! that’s hard to come by in the genre nowadays.
this is the first book i’ve read by simone st. james and i’m definitely going to read all of her others now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence and Rape

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

Homophobic and lesphobic slurs written by a cis het author.

brookey8888's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I’m not going to lie this starts out slow, but then you want to know what’s going on. The thing I liked best about this was probably the commentary on women, and women being murdered. I also liked the ghostly vibes. I really liked both Viv and carly oh also heather. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence