Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

94 reviews

author2223's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

Minor: Misogyny

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

meremesch's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Cancer and Death of parent

cjcrawfish's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Mental illness, Violence, Stalking, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Cursing

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.

maziodynes's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

I wasn't expecting to love this one as much as I did! Absolutely could not put it down. I loved the shifting perspectives from the past and the present that mirrored each other. The supernatural elements mixed with the small town murder mystery hit just right. and the lens of feminist rage added just the right amount of catharsis to make this a really enjoyable read for me 🔥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Stalking

Moderate: Rape

paulrichard's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, and Child death

Minor: Cursing

katrina_ingram's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.0

This started off as a paranormal horror but turned into more of a mystery as the book progressed. I like the dual aspect of the book with alternating chapters between Carly in 2017 and her aunt viv in 1982. The plot was interesting and the characters well rounded. I liked the dual narration aswell, both narrators were good and it helped distinguish between the characters 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, Child death, Murder, and Violence