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alicenonsense's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Trafficking, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Murder, Biphobia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, and Gaslighting
Minor: Pedophilia and Dementia
thatswhatshanread's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Claire and Lydia, estranged sisters brought back together by another tragedy, embark on a journey almost twenty-five years old as new clues come to light about their older sister, Julia, who went missing when she was nineteen and was never found. Nothing is as it seems as present begins to connect rather ominously with the past.
This was my first Karin Slaughter book and man, did it deliver. It’s definitely a very dark book that seems to get darker with each shocking turn, not shying away from grisly facts or chilling thoughts. The writing was intense, fast-paced, evocative. Slaughter’s words made the story so vivid and realistic, my heart pounding the whole way through as if I were one of Julia’s sisters, too.
If you’re a fan of Gillian Flynn, you’ll also devour this one. I found their writing styles quite similar and engaging.
I loved the way this story played out, the different story arcs that came to fruition. Of course, the subject matter is even more sinister then you’d imagine out the gate, but it was used so well in this one.
I suspect I will be thinking of this book for a long time!!
Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Alcoholism, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Addiction, Gore, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Excrement, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, and Gun violence
Minor: Body horror
erica_reads_things's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Car accident, Drug use, Infidelity, Stalking, Suicide, Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Classism, Fatphobia, and Dementia
abbymackenzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Stalking, Blood, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Gore, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Dementia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Grief
taylers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Excrement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Gun violence
Moderate: Stalking, Kidnapping, Addiction, Body shaming, Car accident, Drug use, Dementia, Vomit, Sexual content, Infidelity, and Eating disorder
Graphic descriptions of rape, torture, murder, and mutilation.triple_m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I’ll start with the cons because there are few: The chapters written to Julia from the dad can drag. Not even because they’re boring but the chapters with Claire and Lydia are so interesting that you’re tempted to skip ahead. And this is petty, but
This book is very graphic, which for me is a good thing, I enjoy novels with graphic content. That being said, the only graphic books I have read have been written by men and I don’t know if I can ever go back. It’s hard for me to describe but I could just tell this book was written by a woman (big positive). The moment you think the situation couldn’t get any more deprived, it does.
Claire and Lydia are both arguably shitty people, or do put it tastefully I would say they’re both complex and flawed characters. They’ve experienced a significant amount of trauma so it makes sense that they’ve had a difficult time adjusting to life.
Loved the book and was very satisfied with the ending.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Body horror, Torture, and Rape
Moderate: Suicide and Drug abuse
Minor: Body shaming and Dementia
perplexed's review against another edition
- 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
2.25
I will say now that there might be some spoilers in this review, and I'll flag them, but proceed with caution. Also TW: I reference SA and violence in this review
There were elements of this book I loved. The whole idea of "how well do you really know someone" is a trope I love to see explored, and this book started off doing that really well. I also really loved the main characters, Claire and Lydia, and part of the reason I finished the book was because I wanted to make sure they got out of their shenanigans okay.
That being said, so much of this book felt like gratuitous detail. I get that you want to make it clear how brutal something is, but you could get that without needing to graphically describe acts of SA and torture. I love body horror and gore, but the repeated graphic descriptions were *a lot* and I really recommend giving this book a skip if you're effected by any of the trigger warnings mentioned on these reviews.
Also, shout out to the fact that either Claire or Karin Slaughter thinks that TOR is an illegal file sharing site. Very much legal, it's just a browser like Google Chrome but it doesn't track you, so I think TOR is actually the real good guy in this book.
PS. Dad if you're reading this hello, please don't judge me for the books I've been reading recently, I've been on a kick of gross books ever since American Psycho but none seem to scratch the itch of violence with a message and they've all just landed on gratuitous violence instead :-( onto a Christmas romance novel next though so, bet you can't wait for that review!
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Death, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
izypup's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Torture, and Confinement
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Stalking, Trafficking, and Vomit
Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy
the_escapist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Plot: involves the family of a missing young woman and a theme of ‘is it better to know what happened or remain ignorant?’.
I was fairly meh for around the first 25% of this book. Then there was an ‘oh shit’ moment. Followed by several more ‘oh shit!‘ moments at increasing volume. Then the last 75% was ridiculously gripping.
Amazingly tense, very fast to read writing style (might’ve helped with not inspecting potential plot holes too closely though – I suspect that on a reread some plot stuff wouldn't hold up as well), great character development, and it makes you fear for the characters and feel for them.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Police brutality, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit