Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

65 reviews

gracie98buena's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

MASSIVE trigger warnings across the board. this was definitely closer to horror in my opinion. videodrome inspired. bordering on being torture porn itself. still rocked

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Gun violence, Sexual content, Stalking, Trafficking, Excrement, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Vomit, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Torture, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual violence

afreeby's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Stalking, Suicide, Trafficking, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Violence

ljkruz's review against another edition

Too dark and disturbing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

aaronreadsatad's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Sexism, Blood, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Torture, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Kidnapping, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Child death, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Physical abuse

aroddy22's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Death, Addiction, Kidnapping, Body horror, and Gore

kat_rowlen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

2.5

Nothing happens for the first 65% of the book except for unnecessary graphic scenes. I felt like several things were added purely for shock value and did little for the story. The ending is satisfying which was nice, but the twist came out of left field, and was never really explained well. If you’re considering this book because you’ve seen it all over TikTok I recommend passing 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Child abuse, Suicide, Body shaming, Car accident, Grief, Kidnapping, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

brischneider16's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Murder, and Suicide

elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

0.25

Strongly do not recommend.

I gave this novel 0.25 stars because it was a book that was written. For a book lauded for its thrilling aspects and thoughtful family drama, there is no thrill and there is no thought, just bloody, useless horror that fails to do anything but shock. Unfortunately, instead of representing the rage of women victimized repeatedly by their society, Pretty Girls tortures its main characters for the pleasure of an audience clearly imagined as male while seeping its depiction of violence against women in privilege and glamour. An irresponsible and poorly done romanticization of torture. In a word: careless. 

Also, I would ask Karen Slaughter to be more thoughtful in her depictions of mental illness. There are many resources online and in libraries for authors to read about mental health and therefore accurately and safely portray it in their work. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Car accident, Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism

suzeanna's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

2.75

READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS! Was really hard to read. Freaked me out for a while after. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child abuse, Drug use, Torture, Drug abuse, Rape, Child death, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

thebookesquire's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I loved The Good Daughter. This is not nearly as good. Was it disturbing? Yes. Was it interesting? Yes. But I didn't love the main characters, the plot was quite predictable, and there was a large section in the middle that took me forever to get through.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Suicide, Child abuse, Death of parent, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Rape, Kidnapping, Torture, Gun violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Drug use and Addiction