Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

17 reviews

matonnhermann's review against another edition

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

3.5


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sonygaystation's review

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

3.0

The romance was a little rushed and it wasn’t as much of a page turner as her other books. But whew that twist sure was something you can only get away with in fiction, it’s so absurd to imagine it happening in real life that it makes it extra fun in fiction

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blackferrum's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Actual rating: 3,8

Pertama, mau kasih warning dulu. Jangan pernah baca blurb-nya (kecuali kalo emang kepo banget ini soal apa) karena ada spoiler tipis di sana. Yah, nggak bakal ngaruh banget sih, kalo yang baca clueless. Cuma nanti bakal kerasa banget waktu baca beberapa bab.

Kedua, mau bahas soal fisik bukunya dulu. BUKUNYA FLOPPY. Seneng banget! Plus agak sayang gitu mau pegang wkwkwk sumpah gapenting. Kebetulan aku sampulin dan ini termasuk yang sukses alias beneran nyatu sama cover-nya (well, lebih nggak penting lagi).

Ketiga, oke balik ke isi bukunya. Seingetku di 3 buku sebelumnya nggak ada masalah sama terjemahannya, tapi di sini kenapa rasanya kasar banget, ya. Kasar in texture maksudku. Bab awal tuh banyak bingung, "ini bahas apa", "topiknya apa, sih?" dan yang paling seting ditanyakan (dalam hati), "konteksnya apa?". Idk, apa versi aslinya memang banyak pakai bahasa khas YA alias gaul gitu, nggak formal lah, tapi pas diterjemahin kenapa kagok kesannya, hey 😭

Keempat, soal karakterisasi nggak ada masalah berarti. Milly just being Milly, begitu pun Aubrey dan Jonah. Yang paling kuat back story-nya tuh Aubrey. Kerasa banget lah backgroud keluarganya gimana terus cara dia deal sama dirinya sendiri gimana. Struggle-nya kerasa. Feel bad for her about Thomas. Aubrey digambarkan jadi cewek canggung yg nggak pede sama dirinya sendiri, haus pengakuan dari ayahnya, dan segenap rasa rendah diri lainnya. Milly sebaliknya, berani dan tau dia cantik, tapi nggak lantas centil dan genit. Jonah sendiri agak kurang kuat karena di pertengahan cerita ada hal yg bikin goals dia melenceng.

Kelima, oiya ini pakai sudut pandang orang pertama. Khas banget buku2 Karen. Ada 3 pov. Aubrey paling banyak flashback dan jelasin kondisi keluarganya. Milly juga ada, tapi lebih condong ke misteri dan suspense-nya. Sedangkan Jonah, yaaa banyak bahas dia dan struggle-nya, masa kini, dan his feelings. Ada bab flashback juga dari ibunya Milly, Allison.

Keenam, alurnya sih oke, tapi karena banyak juga bahas masalah keluarga jadinya kayak nggak fokus. Terus jadi anti-klimaks. Beneran kaget, tapi nggak heran. Alasan villain juga apa ya, rasanya anyep gitu. Sayang banget padahal bagian menuju konflik itu udah seru.

Ketujuh, ending-nya kerasa hambar juga. Di sini ada kejutan juga, cumaaan yah gitu, tiba2 end. Bahkan sampe bengong sebentar, "Ini beneran gini aja?" Bagian epilog definetely fan service banget, jadi aku mau bilang makasih, sih wkwkwk

Rekomen kalo mau baca buku genre misteri dan suspense ala YA. Porsinya ringan lah.

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violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

3.0


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cateemma's review against another edition

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

3.5


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kstericker's review

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5


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ladylovestead's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

This books has multiple timelines and multiple POVs. It is consistent with Karen M. McManus's other books. It's a thriller with some fun twists and turns. The families are dysfunctional and most of the characters are pretty well developed. If you like thrillers set in the Martha's Vineyard area, you might enjoy this. If I was a teenager, I would have been obsessed. As an adult, I still enjoyed it so long as I didn't think about the logic of the resolution too much. 

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therewillbenewsuns's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0


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cbbyles07's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

If you’ve read One of Us Is Lying by her you will like this one.  If you like stories that include family drama and disinherited children this one is for you.  It is not as faced paced as other books I’ve read lately but the ending was still a worthy payoff for sticking with it.  This is YA and could be read by older teens.  They do delve back and forth between the current situation and the past to help the reader piece together what secrets have haunted the family for so long. 

TW: miscarriage, drugs, alcohol abuse, death, and violence (most discriptions are not graphic and yield to expectations of a YA book)

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jillkaarlela's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • 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

3.25

family drama central!! This mystery explores the complexity and mystery surrounding the Story family. The grandmother mysteriously and suddenly disinherits and cuts off all of her children from the family fortune, with a note that reads “you know what you did” as the only explanation. This mystery really keeps you on your toes, with pretty big twists throughout. It’s not my favorite, but it definitely wasn’t bad. I liked that it was different from the other novels, surrounding the drama of one family instead of a friend group, providing something fresh for KMM readers. However, I preferred the “One of us is lying” books over this one (written by the same author). This is classified as a “thriller” but I would not say that this is scary by any means. It’s mostly just ya mystery with some suspense and crazy plot twists! 

Age rating: 14+

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