Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

71 reviews

kimveach's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

This wasn't the book for me.  The first part took too long and was the set-up for any horror movie.  The author did this intentionally to make fun of the "defenseless woman alone" trope.  But I've never liked that sort of book or movie, and it didn't work for me.  If you like horror films, you'll probably like this book.  The rest of the book was clever, but it was too little too late.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Alcoholism, Car accident, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

4.5

 Finished reading: August 7th 2023

"Coincidences are fine in real life. But in fiction, they're bad writing."

I’ve been meaning to try his books for years now, and of course there was no way that I was going to resist the blurb of The Last Word for long. I love books with bookish angles, and what is more fascinating AND terrifying than a thriller read where an author slash killer goes after a person leaving him a one star review? And while things can be said about the plot being over the top and you definitely have to suspend your belief, I personally didn’t care because I was too busy enjoying the ride. This was exactly the dark, twisted and exhilarating read I needed! There is just something about the writing style that makes it very easy to fly through the pages, and the plot itself only increases that pace. The POVs are somehow blurred in points, and at times it takes a second before you realize who is in the spotlight; this would usually highly annoy me, but somehow in The Last Word it only added to the suspense. There are plenty of twists along the way as well, and with (at times) two contrasting POVs telling how the events happened it makes you wonder what is the real version. Again, this is usually something that would bother me, but in this case it somehow worked. Even the characters: none of them are exactly likeable, but since the main focus is on the plot and the life or death situation it's not as important. The Last Word definitely tips its toe in the horror genre though, and warnings are in place for particularly gruesome and graphic scenes as well as animal cruelty. If you think you can stomach those and like your thrillers on the dark and twisted side, I can highly recommend this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Misogyny, Stalking, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Bullying, Body horror, Self harm, Suicide, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

icieri's review against another edition

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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Child death, Death, Blood, Car accident, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

janbee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Stalking, Blood, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Murder

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Okay, this book was NUTS in the best way possible. I absolutely loved it! Plot twists galore that left my head spinning! I enjoyed the “double story” aspect and while I agree it was dragged out, I think it added to the suspense at some parts! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness and Child death

Minor: Car accident and Blood

cardanrry's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Body horror, Grief, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism

d0505's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Do not fret. The dog lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Murder

Moderate: Blood and Stalking

emharris's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Child death, Vomit, Stalking, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, and Gore

Minor: Car accident, Confinement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

thesonnetsilence's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I typically don't read thrillers, but I was happy I picked this one up. I couldn't put it down! I feel H.G. Kane was a refreshing and unique antagonist, and he was unlike anything I expected going into this book. I also think the emphasis on grief was very powerful, and I shed quite a few tears toward the end. There were twists and turns, and although I  did predict a couple of the major plot points, how we got there was filled with twists and turns that I wasn't expecting! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Body horror, Stalking, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcoholism, Infertility, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Fatphobia and Mass/school shootings

horizonous's review against another edition

The dog kind of talks.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Animal death

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent

◦ Mental illness = Depression