Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

15 reviews

whatsamanthadoes's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Read for a book club.

Very interesting dystopian premise. Lena drops out of college to pay family debts by working for a government research program.

She has to sign an NDA and weird/brutally things are done to her and other participants. Or is it all just a dream?

Lena continued to endure these trials because of her devotion to her family. While I wish we would have got to know the characters a bit better, I really loved Lena, Charlie, and Deziree. I loved that Lena gave silly names for the people that worked at Lakewood. It caught me by surprise that the book change formats at times. There were parts in this book that had me ill (

teeth, mushrooms, apricots to name a few!

). There were parts about medical racism and preying on those in a financial crisis. 

All of her dreams circled around the idea that she was having pieces of her taken or destroyed even when she would try to get them to see that she is a real person.

I wish there was a little more resolution in the ending, but

I'm interested to read Megan Giddings' future books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Murder, Death, and Medical content

brotestantethic's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Feverish. A damning indictment of clinical trials and the United States’ perversion of Black people. Giddings creates an expansive and believable landscape, despite how ridiculous the trials may seem. Every second is filled with uncertainty and terror, and I would certainly classify this as thriller even though it lacks many of the typical elements. It’s an incredibly smart novel.

What fell just short for me was the main character Lena’s personality and stakes. She has high stakes for sure, but they are not built in a convincing way before plummeting into the horrors. Lena’s personality blossoms in the second act, consisting of letters written to her best friend Tanya; here, we get a hazy first person account of her journey. This section is full of personality, with words and grammar slipping into a diabolical haze of sickness and poor memory. This bit was, I will say, extremely hard to follow. But the heart is there, and the

concept that these trials live within families, that memories traverse generations and are passed down hereditarily is absolutely stunning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Chronic illness, Racism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Gun violence

alchamp's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gaslighting, Racism, Murder, Chronic illness, and Medical content

killmoore_'s review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

2.5

I wanted to love this. It was an addictive read that fell flat for me. As stated in previous comments, I believe this would have been perfect as a novella, but as a full length novel it was lacking substance and depth, and was incredibly frustrating. 

There were a few moments that could have been pure horror, but Lena's need to be detached and emotionally void dampened the effect, which was disappointing. 

I'd recommend as a conversation starter for a book club, or someone looking for a truly interesting concept written as a "stuff happens" sandwich. It begins, stuff happens, then it ends. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Racism, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Confinement, Blood, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Terminal illness

spineofthesaurus's review

tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Dysphoria, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Violence, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Racism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Torture, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Stalking, Abandonment, Murder, Classism, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Cancer, Drug abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Slavery, Vomit, Addiction, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Trafficking

Minor: Car accident, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

mlovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Holy shit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Death of parent, Body horror, Gore, Racism, and Blood

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body horror, Medical trauma, Classism, Medical content, Gaslighting, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Torture, Cursing, Sexism, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cancer, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent

bitterseason's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Dementia, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Stalking, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

helhas3letters's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Very readable. The plot hooked me completely and despite a few awkward turns of phrase, I raced through this one.
My main gripe, however, is that I felt the ending was rushed and left too open-ended. I wanted more concrete answers and explanations as to why half the events in the book occurred. I understand that a lot of modern fiction leaves things up to interpretation for the reader, but in this case it felt less 'up to interpretation' and more 'couldn't be bothered thinking of specific reasons why specific things happened'.
The ending was also unfortunately semi-spoiled for me by a way too on-the-nose and frankly reductive pull quote on the cover of the book. It was from Essence and read:

"Reminiscent of Jordan Peele's terrifying film Get Out."

If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean when I say that reading that quote essentially told me the entire ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death of parent, Medical content, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Cancer, Gore, Death, Colonisation, Torture, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Stalking, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

mraddd's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Racism, Physical abuse, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Murder

Minor: Grief