Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Girl, Forgotten by Karin Slaughter

52 reviews

rsagarin's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, Mental illness, Murder, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Homophobia, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

gungopeas's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Rape, Eating disorder, and Sexual violence

bookishchaos'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

The story needed more structure. It was either all over the place or very slow moving. Most of the "serious" characters in this book were actually goofy and pretty annoying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Rape

Moderate: Trafficking, Sexual assault, and Gun violence

Minor: Homophobia, Murder, and Suicide attempt

lindsaysofia_25's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I picked this up because I wanted to return to my roots and read a mass market paperback thriller in a single evening before returning to university. This novel was not at all what I expected, in the best way possible. It had all the hallmarks that make me love this kind of thriller--suspense, revelations of connections between characters and cases, and ever-satisfying narration of the main character piecing together the solution--but it was bigger than that. The central mystery meant something, and I could feel that it meant something to the author too. Throughout the novel, Slaughter examined the violent misogyny that led to the disaster, while exploring characters who refuse to be classified as wholly good or evil. I am shocked that a novel could so effectively communicate the horrors of patriarchy while also being a triumph of the thriller genre. 

The chapters from Emily Vaughn's perspective offered a fascinating window into the mind of a teenager faced with incredible trauma and her manipulation by her group of "friends" and their charismatic leader. The dynamics of the group reminded me of The Secret History, with their performative intellectualism, enjoyment of psychedelics, and sexual tensions, but the murder of a member of the group much more tragic. I was struck by Slaughter's ability to make Emily's perspective seem so childish. The writing style felt adolescent, her gullibility and innocence as she processed what had happened to her was palpable, and the way she went about investigating it for herself was markedly childish. Emily seems like a kid trying to act like an adult as she emulates what she knows about how an investigation works, which is masterfully juxtaposed against the present-day investigation executed by the actual trained professionals. 

As I read, I found myself grasping at straws, searching for characters I could latch on to as trusted allies of Andrea and Emily, but no one was safe. Yet, it was also hard to completely villainize most characters because of Slaughter's insistence on depicting their moments of kindness and the gender and class dynamics that drove many of their actions. This genre tends to depict good and evil more dichotomously than other adult genres, and even where the lines blur, authors often write such a character as having two sides. Instead, Slaughter forces readers to recognize that the best and worst qualities of a person are deeply interconnected, and often both spring from the same roots.

A major example of this is the depiction of Jack Stilton in the two timelines. He is Emily Vaughn's only ally and has his own major issues as a gay man in a town like Longbill, but he is also an alcoholic, a misogynist, and a pretty shitty cop. In the scene where he shoots Nardo, he is flawed but the inescapable truth is that he is a grieving man doing one last thing for someone he loved deeply. In hindsight, building him up as a typical god-awful small town cop in Andrea's perspective before showing the purity of his friendship and love for Emily was a fantastic choice and excellently executed.

Returning to a point I mentioned in the first paragraph, a central theme of the novel is the patriarchal roots of the crimes committed against Emily Vaughn. Throughout the novel, Slaughter depicts many relationship dynamics inarguably shaped by gender and class relations, but the most obvious social commentary is the way the male characters talk to and about women. With the singular exception of Bible, the men in the story span a range of political opinions but are united by their violent misogyny. At many points in the story, we see characters like Clay speak of revolution and degrade women in the same breath. They are ideologically opposed to hierarchy, except in their desire to be worshipped by women. 

I have so many more thoughts about this novel but they are more well-suited to an essay than a review, so I'll end my comments here. My final note is that if you're going to read it, you should check content warnings because it deals explicitly with very heavy topics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Medical trauma

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

cstoeger's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this book by Karen Slaughter.  This one was a slow burn compared to her other one I just read, Pieces of You.  She seamlessly weaved the two different storylines (1980s & today).  I kept imagining this book as a episode of Cold Case and picturing how the characters looked in the 1980s versus now.  

I will be seeking out other Karen Slaughter books and adding them to my "to-read" shelf.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Child abuse

Minor: Dementia

I was pleasantly surprised at who the killer was. All of the surrounding characters were flawed (some had very big ones). That whole group of friends was very toxic, but I think I was taken aback at the scene where Ricky and

eeeebs's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Sure! Fine! A little silly, a little predictable, but it passed the time and kept me engaged. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Drug use, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Dementia, Gore, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Death of parent, Addiction, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Murder, Outing, Pedophilia, Sexism, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Torture

brynhayes's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Gaslighting, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, Blood, Torture, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pregnancy, Stalking, and Suicide

alexandriav'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? It's complicated

3.0

Sequel to Pieces of Her, however, can be read out of order. It confines the story of US Marshall Andrea Oliver.  The reader is going between present day and 40 years ago as Andrea tries to solve a cold case murder of Emily vaughn. There are a lot of characters with different and some complex back stories to keep up with. While I thought this book was better than Pieces of Her, I felt there was still some unanswered questions and it could have been better with how long it was. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Drug use

Minor: Eating disorder and Suicide attempt

jesshart8's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Murder, Pregnancy, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Rape, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Misogyny

edithbookshelf's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Bullying