Reviews with content warning for Drug use - The Counselors

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Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Counselors by Jessica Goodman

17 reviews

bu167809's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

okafon's review against another edition

3.5

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I overall liked this book, it was a good young adult murder mystery. But there were a few things I didn’t like as much.

For one,

Once Goldie was told Heller regretted putting the blame on her for the car accident, she seemed to love him again? Just cause he was sorry and was planning to tell her before he died doesn’t mean she should forgive him just like that. Sort of glad he died cause I wouldn’t have wanted her to get back together with him after what he did.

Also, I guess who it was half way through. It was pretty obvious. This isn’t per day bad, but when the murderer was revealed I like feeling suprised, but this didn’t suprise me. The reason the murderer killed the person also didn’t make a ton of sense. I feel like on some level it was an ok reason but I feel like the author could have made a better reason.

Also I found it weird how they didn’t wrap up the fact that Goldie’s life was “ruined.” What is going to happen after? How does her town treat her after she tells them it was Heller who ran over Dylan? Will they apologize for treating her so badly? Does she even actually end up exposing Heller or does she back out?

Also why did her parents let her take the blame for the car accident. I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that not only did Goldie think it was a good idea (She was in love or whatever, I can excuse her) but her parents thought it was a good idea? When her mom told her she knew Goldie wasn’t driving the car I was so confused. What parent lets their child take the blame for running over someone when they didn’t?

Regardless I would still recommend this book. It wasn’t amazing but it was good. The story was good overall.

Content Warnings

abby_can_read's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

📖
This was an interesting book. The plot was decent, though I guessed several of the "twists." The writing style kept me engaged. Overall, it was a decent book. I didn't love or didn't hate it.

Content Warnings

alynnhays's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I read this for the Storygraph Onboarding Challenge "Up-Next Suggestions" prompt. I think it could have been a 4-star read, but the young adult themes weren't relatable to me. Additionally, I didn't appreciate the inclusion of drinking and drug use in a young adult book.

Content Warnings

annamwallace66's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

heartsister923's review against another edition

4.0

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was a really good book but my only comment was I started it on a Saturday then felt it wasn’t gripping enough to return to the next day so I finished it the following Saturday.

Content Warnings

liciaaaaa's review against another edition

2.25

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Every character sucked except Imogene, but that’s because she was severely underdeveloped. I feel like Scooby Doo episodes have cleaner wrap ups than this book did. All that for tax evasion? Really?

Content Warnings

cady_sass's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is so fun! Very reminiscent of “The Last Time I Lied” by Riley Sager but written for a younger audience. I have some minor qualms with the glorification of an obviously unhealthy relationship, and it’s clear based on other reviews that lots of other readers feel this way too, but let’s remind ourselves that this is YA and we are talking these are circumstances where the kids are just doing whatever their parents say because they’re scared. I can’t say much more about that without spoilers. I think this is very well crafted, the conflicts feel realistic for the characters and their social settings and/or class differences. The villain monologuing at the end to fill in story holes is always a pain point for me, so that’s my only real gripe. I prefer better storytelling and an MC who digs in and figures it out without having to have it spelled out for them in the final pages. That being said, every actual adult in the book behaves as if they don’t have a single brain cell. The parents, the staff, the townspeople. Collectively not a single intelligent thought. So obviously teens will love it.

(side note- there are a LOT of reviews here that should be hidden due to spoilers, tread carefully if you’re reading reviews prior to finishing)

Content Warnings

emily_mh's review against another edition

3.25

mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I think this is the book where I give up on Jessica Goodman thrillers. With her first being my worst book of 2021 and her second only getting a 3.75 from me, I was hoping this book would be the one to convince me she could follow through on her enticing premises. But with a 3.25 rating, I think I can safely say that this author consistently fails to deliver, at least to the level that I want.

My main issue is with the MC. This is a make or break point for any book, but especially one using first-person narration. Unfortunately Goldie is such a non-character. I truly cannot describe her personality, interests (beyond camp), motivations, or desires. She just seemed very… blank. This was truly fatal flaw in the book for me because it made the whole thing seem very two-dimensional, and left me with the question: why was this story written? What did it seek to achieve?

Another thing I didn’t like was that the toxicity of Heller wasn’t properly addressed. At the end of the book you’re left with the impression that he truly loved Goldie and given time they would have gotten back together. In reality,

he drove under the influence, paralysed his best friend, lied about his involvement and sacrificed Goldie’s future for his own, then ghosted Goldie and encouraged people to bully her, even participating in the bullying himself

. I wouldn’t call that love.

Furthermore, the writing style was contrived at times and made me cringe a little. It was too dramatic when it didn’t need to be and so undermined moments that were supposed to be meaningful.

The mystery was fine for YA, although the motive wasn’t that compelling;

I never find financial motives to be so

. I think that multiple avenues of suspicion and investigation needed to be built up from the beginning. Also, the book doesn’t deliver on its promise of a thriller.

I can pay this book some compliments, though, seeing as I gave it 3.25 stars! The setting was a shining star. American summer camp settings are one of my all-time favourites so that was already a win; on top of this it was written excellently by Goodman. You could tell she was drawing on her own personal experiences. Nearly everything happens at the camp and I had a vivid picture of what it looked like. Also, the nostalgia Goldie had for her own experiences was potent and only served to deepen the sense of place.

Additionally, I think the friendship aspect was dealt with quite well.

I appreciated that it didn’t go down the black-and-white toxicity route but showed the complexity of maintaining childhood friendships when you’re growing and changing so much as a teen.

Content Warnings

finalgirlfeminism's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious 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

I was pleasantly surprised that I absolutely loved this YA thriller 🔪 it didn’t come off as young at all in terms of the writing or conversations between characters and I enjoyed the split timeline throughout. I did guess some of the reveal about halfway through but there was still some of the reveal I hadn’t guessed until the very end. This is a great year round read and I think especially poignant for those who’ve been to camp and can picture themselves in some of the moments of joy described so well. This was truly a page turner and I couldn’t recommend it more.

Content Warnings

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