Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger

4 reviews

noellesmagicallibrary's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

I read this one so quickly (in under 4 hours) because it’s short and fast paced. The story kept me wondering what really happened the night of December 23rd, but the end result was a bit of a let down. There was little depth to the characters —
I don’t know the motivation behind Chet’s actions or why Evan chose to kill Stephanie
 
I think the shorter length of this book did it a disservice. It either needed to be condensed a little bit into a novella or drawn out to give more of a backstory. Harley’s character and his role in the story could have been really cool but he didn’t do much. I wanted him to get more involved in the cold case, uncover some deep dark secrets and ultimately find out what happened to those missing girls. 
Big spoiler ahead — this is the big reveal I was hoping for
Madeline killed Stephanie and Evan was trying to stop her and he injured her in the process. Then, because of his past (which may or my not have been true) the death was pinned on him. This whole time Madeline didn’t know she did it because she suppressed the memories of the night (and she drank a lot). 
Also, I didn’t care for the “romance” aspect between Madeline and Badger


Overall, Christmas Presents isn’t the best holiday thriller I’ve read, but it’s not terrible either. The author does do a great job at utilizing different characters points of view, switching between first and third person, while also using past and present timelines. 

Oh and one more thing. The profession is “physician assistant” not “physician’s assistant”. There’s no possessive; I do not belong to the doctor I work with. 
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lauren_reads_outside's review

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dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

I enjoyed the book as a quick Christmas thriller read, but I guessed the twist pretty early on because of the character descriptions and also didn't think the podcaster added anything to the book. The romance add in was also blah.
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adriapeters's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

Predictable…I predicted the “twist” less than halfway through & there was no other crazy twist than that. Definitely not psychologically thrilling.
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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-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

3.75

Took awhile to get into it but halfway through I was hooked. There are references to Christmas but I wish it had just been a touch more festive than that. 
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