Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

33 reviews

silver_lining125's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Infertility, Gun violence, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, and Drug use

readingwithtrey's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book gave me the ICK. And it’s a very hard one to rate because of said ick. But when I think about the things that I look for in a thriller, this checks a lot of the boxes. 

I binged this over the weekend because I just couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened and only figured out a twist like 5 minutes before it was revealed. If it’s one thing about me, I LOVE thrillers and mysteries that I can’t figure out. 

What I didn’t enjoy so much was that it was a lot more gruesome than I prefer, and it included 2 particular subjects that I try to avoid. Having said that, it was definitely a solid thriller, and I couldn’t find any plot holes. 

I highly recommend this one, but definitely check content warnings before diving in!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Death, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Grief, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit, Outing, Miscarriage, Infertility, Infidelity, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

elmewhy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Child death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Incest, Body horror, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment and Death of parent

uppercasenoises's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I was hooked within minutes of starting this book. I'll read anything JH writes. Time jumps. Dual perspective, third person limited.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Violence, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Cancer, Alcohol, and Stalking

Spice: 2/5 relatively explicit sexual content, although only mentioned twice.

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I think this was a great thriller, there's really no doubt about that. Jennifer Hillier is a great storyteller with a gripping writing style and throughout this book she uses a dual timeline in a really effective and creative way. I thought the story in general was original and horrifying and I enjoyed the use of symbolism throughout. I also liked the twist, even though I did guess it, because I think that me being able to figure out a twist means that the groundwork in the thriller has been laid properly. I find that often when twists come out of left field, they are the twists that don't make sense. This one definitely did.

WARNING: HELLA SPOILERS AHEAD

I did have issues with this one though, which what holds me back from giving it a perfect rating. I don't know if this is something that runs through all of JH's work, but there was so much fatphobia. Now, if the characters were just fatphobic, that would be one thing. Characters aren't perfect and they shouldn't be. Things like Angela saying "your thighs are getting fat" did not bother me because that felt like something that character would say - she's a teenage girl in the year 2000 when diet culture is thriving, of course she would say that. What I had a problem with was when characters in the narrative were endlessly described as these fat, disgusting creatures. There is a character in the beginning of the book, Bernadette/Bernie who is in prison with Georgina (Geo) our protagonist, she is framed as an antagonist and does undeniably terrible things to Geo, including literally raping her, and instead of her horrible traits being focused on...the narrative chooses to focus on how fat the character is. It's....gross. It was really distracting for me.

This leads me into my next problem - queer characters or characters who might be queer are framed in such a negative light throughout this whole book. There is Bernie, who is predatory and a prison rapist (which is not to say that lgbt+ people can't be rapists, but this isn't the kind of representation I want to see, there are enough people calling this community rapists, thanks). There is also another character who goes to high school with Geo and Angela who is a football player. I can't remember his name, but anyway, he might be gay, and in order to keep himself from being suspected as gay, he says really disgusting stuff about having sex with Angela after she disappears, framing the one gay character who could possibly have a decent arc into a pretty terrible person...?

So, while I did really enjoy this, I believe that I have valid criticisms here and I really hope that these things aren't a common theme throughout JH's work because I really do like her writing. I'll give her another chance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Fatphobia, Murder, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Blood, Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexual content, Cancer, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racism and Classism

beckyremillard's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.75

The story starts without much prefacing, Geo is testifying against Calvin (the serial killer and her high school boyfriend) before she’s off to prison herself for five years. We get a bit about Geo’s time in prison in the beginning of her sentence and right before she’s released. Then the story is about Geo’s time after prison and what is happening in the town. 

The book does skip around a bit in the timeline without clear context of when it shifted (which I can’t stand) but it was done well. I didn’t love it but it didn’t take me out of the story like it normally does for me. 

I didn’t know anything about this book before reading it. Normally I read books that have been recommended or I’ve seen often, but I just randomly saw this one at the library and thought it seemed interesting. I was right, but there’s a lot of heavy material (which is coming from someone who regularly reads dark books). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Blood, Murder, Rape, and Terminal illness

Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, and Body shaming

jalynd5630's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

janjanjukebox's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier 311 pages 10 hours and 43 minutes narrated by January LaVoy

Genre: Mystery Thriller, Crime Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Contemporary 

Featuring: Seattle, Washington, Graphic Depictions, Dead Bodies, Prison Life, Sexual Assault, Rape, Murder, Child Murder, Police Investigation, Multiracial Characters, Harassment, Violence, Multiple Timelines, Some Graphic Descriptions, Child Abuse, Sex, Teenagers, Preview of Little Secrets

Rating as a movie: N-17 for violence, disturbing themes, and content 

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My thoughts: 11% - Interesting opening, but then it got real. I'm going back to Sugarberry Cove. 
25% - I might have to quit this one. The story is good but too graphic for my taste. 
32% - I saw that coming. 
50% - I went from not sure if I wanted to hear more to getting annoyed every time I had to get out of the car. Now, I'm at home and free to enjoy this book uninterrupted for the rest of the evening. 
81% - I have solved this case, and I'm rewarding myself with a long break. And by break, I mean, I'm starting another book.

I'm not sure if it is predictable if you figure everything out 75% in even though the author hasn't revealed it yet. Anyway, this book was written well and held my interest but also repulsed me. I wanted to slap MC, but she was young and had some excuses for her stupidity. There were plotholes but the way the story flowed; I didn't even care. 

Recommend to others?: Sure, but this book isn't for those with sensitive palates; my senses were definitely violated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Cancer, Stalking, Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Medical content

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts

ohhthehorrors's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

ggcd1981's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Indo direto ao ponto este livro não era para mim. Eu suspeitei disso desde que li o resumo, mas após assistir alguns booktubers elogiando o livro, mais estava incluso na minha assinatura do Audiobooks.com a minha curiosidade foi despertada. Infelizmente do começo ao fim a história foi por caminhos que não me agradaram. Deixo claro que o livro não é ruim, ele é bem escrito e tenho certeza que muitas pessoas se surpreenderam com os plot twists. Mas para mim a obra foi “mais uma” sobre relacionamento abusivo, “mais uma” em que a protagonista feminina foi vitimada de todas as formas possíveis, inclusive da pior delas: a personagem Geo sofreu 3 tentativas de estupro (uma delas concretizadas). Não apenas isso mas houveram outros estupros e cenas de sexo altamente desconfortáveis. Como mulher sei que no mundo real mulheres são vítimas de várias violências, inclusive sexuais. Sei que é válido representar essas histórias na ficção. Porém não significa que eu quero ler sobre mulheres sendo vítimas, e não, eu não quero. É parte da vida real, mas eu não tenho interesse nesse aspecto retratado na ficção. Uma coincidência que não ajudou minha experiência com Jar of hearts foi que ele foi o segundo livro em um curto espaço do tempo em que uma das revelações é que o culpado é o filho do Serial killer original. Na verdade, não achei nenhum dos plot twists realmente inesperados e mais ou menos sabia o que estava vindo antes das revelações. Ou seja, as razões pelas quais eu não gostei estão relacionadas diretamente ao meu gosto pessoal e ao fato de que os temas abordados na obra não me interessam ou não realmente surpreenderam. Apesar disso uma crítica que tenho a história em si é durante todo o livro Geo foi vitimada, apesar de Hillier mostrar que ela tinha força interior, apenas para no final revelar que Geo não apenas deu a ideia de esquartejar Angela, mas ela fez isso ela mesma...qualquer simpatia minha por Geo foi jogada pela janela. Para completar depois de tudo que a personagem fez ela teve um final feliz com Kaiser, seu melhor amigo de adolescência e detetive do caso de Calvin, e um bebê a caminho. A mulher teve a ideia e esquartejou a melhor amiga, nunca disse a verdade a ninguém, nem mesmo a Kaiser, seu companheiro e pai do seu bebê, e ainda assim teve final feliz. Suponho que na vida real as vezes criminosos também tem finais felizes, então pelo menos é realista. Mesmo que Jar of hearts não tenha agradado o meu gosto pessoal ainda tenho que reconhecer que o livro foi bem escrito. Apesar de não gostar dos temas a leitura foi rápida e fluida e isso foi devido a escrita de Jennifer Hillier. Valeu a experiência e para mim o livro merece pelo menos 3 estrelas.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Grief, Incest, Pregnancy, and Child death

Minor: Child abuse