Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

False Witness by Karin Slaughter

19 reviews

bookmouse_67's review

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Vomit, Chronic illness, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

ekmook's review

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Violence

courtpaige's review

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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction

nodogsonthemoon's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

rachaelallyn's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, and Eating disorder

kerrygetsliterary's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Dementia, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Defence attorney, Leigh Collier, is doing well; good job, happy and successful daughter, and an amicable relationship with her ex - her only issue is her estrangement from her drug-addicted younger sister, Callie. All their lives are about to be blown apart by Leigh's next case which brings back difficult memories from years ago. Rich, successful business owner, Andrew Tenant, has been accused of kidnap, rape, and torture and it's clear to Leigh that he's probably guilty, but Andrew knows a secret about Leigh and Callie's childhood and he threatens to torpedo their lives unless Leigh wins his case through fair means or foul.

This is one of those books that the author does so well - where you read with a feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach but you can't stop reading anyway. Leigh and Callie are extremely flawed human beings but they are also sympathetic characters too. Their love for each other is evident throughout the book, as they will go to almost any lengths to protect each other and their family. Throughout the story line, the author looks at the blatant misogyny and barriers women and young girls face in receiving justice in cases involving sexual assault. This is grim reading at a time when the justice system in England and Wales is facing scrutiny over its handling of such cases, as successful prosecutions have dropped in numbers. As usual it is graphic in dealing with its themes of violence, sexual violence, paedophilia, and drug-taking, so if those are triggers for you, be warned.

Thanks to NetGalley & publishers, HarperCollins UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Violence

jayneyh314's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Despite not having the most conventional upbringing, Leigh and Callie were good people, trying to make changes to their lives for the better until one night, over 20 years ago, they did something terrible and everything changed. 

Now a successful Lawyer trying to get through the pandemic, Leigh has buried what happened deep inside her until she gets a new client pushed on her at short notice and he knows things about that night, all those years ago, that he shouldn’t.  Can Leigh and Callie save themselves from this new threat and what will it cost them this time?

“False Witness” is due to be published on 24 June by Harper Collins and I was given a free e-arc via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. 

I’m pretty new to the work of Karin Slaughter but the few of her books that I have read, I’ve really enjoyed so I was very excited to be approved for the e-arc of “False Witness” and I wasn’t disappointed. 

Initially, I was surprised by the pandemic setting. It’s not integral to the plot so isn’t mentioned in the official synopsis of the book but I felt like it grounded the plot in current times and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. 

Slaughter’s characterisation is excellent and she deals sensitively but realistically with Callie’s struggles with addiction. I really related to Leigh and the way she portrayed herself as quite tough but deep down had a really sensitive side and would do absolutely anything for her family. 

As you would expect with a book of this genre there were plenty of twists along the way and although I did predict a couple of them there were some absolute jaw dropping moments too. 

I really enjoy Slaughter’s writing style, “False Witness” is fast paced and kept me absolutely gripped from beginning to end. There’s a comment that Callie makes towards the end of the book that reminded me of the timeframe that we had been dealing with and there is definitely a lot of action packed into quite a short space of time. 

Slaughter’s writing always feels very realistic to me. It’s a fictional story but I’m sure there are people who are brought up in exactly the way Leigh and Callie were. Andrew Tennant is also one of the creepiest villains I’ve come across in a while, precisely because he’s so realistic. Give me a clown down a storm drain and I won’t even flinch but violent misogynists are truly terrifying. 

I would say this book should come with trigger warnings for rape, paedophilia, murder, addiction, drug taking, PTSD and violence (mostly against women). Whilst Slaughter doesn’t glorify any of these actions and is no more graphic than she needs to be some passages could be quite triggering for some people and, as I’ve said above, the realism of her writing that is one of the things I love would make these passages especially triggering. 

I honestly couldn’t find a single fault with this book and as long as you take into account the trigger warnings above I would highly recommend to any lovers of the thriller genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Rape, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

azazellos_fang's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault