Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

207 reviews

cardanrry's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism

bekah1210's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mass/school shootings, and Stalking

day_dreaming_vampire's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow this was so twisty I think I have whiplash!  

spoiler alert, the dog survives!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

gaby_readsss's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

This was my first time reading a Taylor Adams book and it definitely won’t be my last. When I first read the blurb of this book I was so intrigued and thought it was such a cool idea for a thriller. Imagine a book author stalking a woman who leaves a one star review on one of his books. Now that’s creepy. Just imagine that happening in real life? 🫣

The suspense, the setting, and the pace kept me turning page after page. I thought the timing and delivery of each plot twist was cleverly done. Even when I thought I knew what was coming, the plot changed and became something entirely different. 

I loved how there’s literally a “draft” from the villain point of view within the book. Each narrator makes you question everything and leaves you wondering which version is real and which version is fake until the very last word. ;) 

I found it funny how the author kind of roasted himself by mentioning thriller tropes are unrealistic while using those exact same tropes. 😅

This book is one of my favorite thrillers of the year. I recommend reading it, but make sure to read trigger warnings ahead, as it does mention some heavy topics.

I was so freaking worried reading this book whenever Laika was in trouble or when she got harmed. 😕
Thank goodness she survives.

The ending was a bit of a reach, but at the same time I choose to believe Emma somehow survives literally being thrown out in the ocean tied with a backpack full of rocks, while being poisoned. Like, how is that possible? 
One of my theories is that she actually dies and is imagining that she survives? But I choose to believe it’s real and she’s going back to Shawn. 😭

I knew it was Deek from the beginning, especially considering there’s not a lot of characters at the beginning of the story. He was my main suspect all along and I was right! But  the other plot twists had my jaw on the floor. 😨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Infertility, and Car accident

emharris's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

This was so fun! I mean, it was also very dark but it was so twisty and was truly a page turner. I really enjoyed our main character, and even if it was semi-predictable I still felt like it went in interesting directions. It was creepy and full of action, I was really impressed by this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

blair_w's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Violence, Vomit, and Murder

thesonnetsilence's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I typically don't read thrillers, but I was happy I picked this one up. I couldn't put it down! I feel H.G. Kane was a refreshing and unique antagonist, and he was unlike anything I expected going into this book. I also think the emphasis on grief was very powerful, and I shed quite a few tears toward the end. There were twists and turns, and although I  did predict a couple of the major plot points, how we got there was filled with twists and turns that I wasn't expecting! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia and Mass/school shootings

thefebruaryfriday's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

katiecat22's review against another edition

3.75

Not as good as No Exit for me, but there were definitely twists and turns I didn’t see coming. The audiobook dual narrators were enjoyable as well.

I don’t expect emotionally deep conversations with a thriller, but the resolution for her daughter and reconnection with her husband felt a bit too quick for me at the very end. The narration style of dual narrators and the “manuscript” included as part of the narrative added interest, too.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Gore, and Car accident