Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens

7 reviews

bookishchaos's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I thought I had everything figured out...I did not. This was really good!! Chevy Stevens is one of my favorite authors and I can't wait to read more from her. There's a lot of triggers in this book so be sure to look at the content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, and Stalking

Moderate: Pedophilia and Police brutality

Minor: Gun violence

ka_ke's review

dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

2.0

It didn’t live up to the hype. I think the bad guy was revealed way WAY too early. I also don’t think we needed all these characters (Amber, Beth etc) to validate the history behind the story. Dark Roads almost seemed white washed, the focus is on Beth (Amber’s sister) who is a white girl from the city trying to solve her sister’s death. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Colonisation

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Abandonment, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Pedophilia

mary_stormageddon's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.0

I thought it was slower than Still Missing, but it was still enjoyable. Very sad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Rape

r3ader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

READ TW'S BEFORE READING!

The first half was too slow, I feel like. I wanted to DNF, but bc I also wanted to know the ending, I kept reading. The last half was finished in the matter of a few days, so the pace definitely picks up towards the end. 

I do have to say, that Beth and Hailey were annoying at times. Both acted like immature teenagers half the time (which is okay in Hailey, bc she is literally a teen, but Beth is too old to act like that).
A good example for that was when Beth

seriously expected Jonny to choose her before Hailey, like??? He know you for a few days and only slept with you once, he know Hailey for his WHOLE LIFE. You can't be mad at him, that he would choose Hailey.

The answer to the murder mystery was a bit surprising, but you could predict it towards the end. Still, not bad. 

I definitely loved the attention the book brings to mmiw! Would have been nice to have an indigenous woman as a main character, too. ^^

Overall, good book, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to others. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Stalking, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Car accident, Torture, Vomit, Death of parent, Excrement, Murder, and Rape

Definitely don't read it if you can't have an animal suffering at the hands of people or if you can't read about an animal which you have bonded with being threatened to get killed!

phantasmaboo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens tells the stories of Haley and Beth, two young women who are tied together by the murder of young women in their small town. When Amber, Beth's sister and Haley's best friend, falls victim to the murderer, the two team up to catch them.

I thought this book was good.  Stevens crafted a dark, atmospheric setting that kept me in suspense the whole time. While I didn't quite enjoy the graphic nature of the book at times, I thought that there was enough otherwise to keep me interested. The narrative switches between Beth and Haley's points of view throughout, so we get to see both sides of their grief, anguish, and fear. Even in the slower parts of the plot, I never thought that the pacing was suffering, which I think speaks to the power of Beth and Haley's voices. The plot does suffer, however, from the "continuous red herring", as I call it. That is, the book keeps us so focused on someone else that it is literally impossible to see the end coming. Because of that, the ending does feel somewhat abrupt and lackluster, because all of the tension was building up toward someone else. That character's ending also feels abrupt, in a way. Still, I can't say that this wasn't the author's intention, and I can't say that it was too bad.

The characters are pretty well-developed. I was scared for a while that one of the characters would devolve into a caricature of a racist, power hungry cop, but I think that Stevens treaded that line carefully and well enough that it didn't come off as forceful or over the top for the sake of the plot. The characters are not diverse as far as I can tell with the exception of (maybe) socioeconomic class. The author attempts to incorporate First Nations peoples and practices, but it is mentioned only in passing and doesn't incorporate any aspects of the culture beyond that. That all being said, the characters we do meet are compelling and deep, and Stevens writes them well enough that you can empathize with their struggles.

Overall, I give this book a 4/5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Outing, Murder, Xenophobia, Rape, Racism, and Medical trauma

kyrstin_p1989's review

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

A story of women being murdered on a dark, desolate highway and the killer being on the loose, this book has so many twists and turns it’s unbelievable. Power, greed, deception, and downright disturbing sexual fantasies make this murder mystery so much more than just a whodunnit. The characters are raw and real and infinitely flawed. The killer is not who I thought it was going to be but I realized it wasn’t who I thought it was RIGHT before the twist. This book kept me guessing in the best way. Also, ACAB - cause this book…man. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Sexual violence, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Rape, Torture, Violence, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Vomit

amnda527's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Violence