Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

38 reviews

ldruckreier's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Death, Blood, Chronic illness, Murder, Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and 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

tmselby's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Cancer, Vomit, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity and Infertility

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

amzyrebecca's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Rape, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Medical content, and Grief

thatbookmarkbabe's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Rape

lisacanteven's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I have been searching for a book that would keep me creeped out and hooked until the very end. This book accomplished that. I sort of figured out the twist, but I think I figured it out when I was supposed to if that makes sense. 

I feel a bit twisted giving this book 5 stars because the story itself is very graphically twisted. But it was just such a wild ride that I couldn't give it any less. I could have lived without the epilogue, but it wasn't enough to knock it down a star, maybe a half star instead (still rounds up to 5 stars).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit