Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Northern Spy by Flynn Berry

6 reviews

tyr2607's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Hate crime, and Gun violence

Moderate: War, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

nodogsonthemoon's review

dark sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: War, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

caribbeangirlreading's review

emotional 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

3.0

Things that worked -
 • Excellent audio narrator 

• Quick and tense read 

• The story lines about sisterhood and motherhood, especially the accurate descriptions of the fears that grip you as a young parent when you realize how little you can control.
 
 

Things that did not work – 

• The story line about spying had huge plot holes and jumped the shark at the end.
 • Inaccurate and simplistic historical context 

 

Northern Spy was my IRL book club’s pick for our March read. Overall, we all enjoyed this book and the many different story lines led to a good discussion. Read if you are looking for something quick. Do no read to learn about the history of the conflict in Northern Ireland or if you are truly looking for a solid spy thriller. 

 

TW: infidelity, miscarriage, pregnancy, gun violence, kidnapping, war

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, and War

Minor: Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

leahrosiee's review

tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, War, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Classism, Colonisation, and Confinement

Minor: Pregnancy and Infidelity

lit_with_lauren's review

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage

linesiunderline's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was not what I expected. It is pitched in many reviews as a thriller, and I think many thriller readers who go into it with that label in mind will be disappointed, because it’s much quieter in feeling overall than most thrillers. It’s more character study than page turner.

The short chapters gave this book a fragmented, urgent feeling. While the slim length leaves you with a sense of parts of the story remaining unexplored, untold, uncertain, and this is perhaps a part of the point of the novel, I wouldn’t have complained if it was longer.

Read this book if you like an evocative sense of place, complex sibling relationships, narratives about moral dilemmas, lyrical writing, and stories that invite you to contemplate the complexity of humanity.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence