Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Exiles by Jane Harper

27 reviews

goodin10tions's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. It was extremely compelling if you are in the mood to go along with a reluctant detective to solve the clues and meet some flawed but interesting characters, give this one a try.

A mother goes missing at a festival in Australian wine country. She unimaginably leaves her child abandoned in a carriage. You meet all her old friend group in a small community? I appreciated that the teens were smart and capable in the story.

I read this book oblivious that it was actually the third of the Aaron Falk series. So, I can report that even if you haven't read the other two - this one is enjoyable.

The narrator was Steve Shanahan and he sounded like you would want the a smart, kind, tall and handsome Australian to sound like. sigh :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit

meliemelo's review against another edition

mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

While this is much more of a slow-burn and less captivating than Harper's other books (or what I remember of them), I eventually accepted the pace and ended up enjoying it, and it doesn't stop the last act from being absolutely chilling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Death, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, and Stalking

rcsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

I was more invested in whether or not Falk was going to do kissing than in the actual crime!
There's a missing woman and an unsolved hit and run and Falk is helped out in solving both by some meddling kids! It's a bit Scooby Doo, I really wanted Luna the dog to find an important clue.
The mystery of the missing woman is well done and I didn't even consider the conclusion in my guessing. The answer to the hit and run is kind of rushed and tacked on the end.
As a whole the book is far more focused on Falk and his life choices than on the actual solving of the crime. I preferred this as I'm more a kissing book person than a crime person. If you're here for some crime noir then you'll probably be a bit disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Car accident, Sexual violence, Child death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Rape, and Suicide

x_tora's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

horizonous's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Death of parent, Death, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit, Car accident, Mental illness, and Cancer

◦ Alcohol = Underage drinking
◦ Mental illness = Depression

silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

4.25

 This one didn't wow me as much as Jane Harper usually does, but it was an absorbing read right when I needed one, so I'm not mad at all. Maybe the problem was just that I figured out a lot of the pieces to the mystery ahead of time? 

 I'm still planning to read the next one she writes without even reading the synopsis first (the library goer's version of an 'auto buy author').

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Vomit

Minor: Infidelity

dbtabm's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

amberlfaris's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, Violence, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

kathleenes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Grief, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Car accident, Death, Gaslighting, Rape, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

ptaradactyl's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad

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

4.0

I really enjoyed it, and I was pulling for Faulk to get the ending he did. The bad guy was a bit convenient, maybe, but the twist was fun. It’s less about the mystery and more about the people and place around it. 

I really enjoy Harper’s writing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault