Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay

20 reviews

syab13's review

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Physical abuse

abookandaspotoftea's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, and Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Racial slurs

anger566's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Great book! Definitely read if you're a fan of Netflix mysteries/murder documentaries like "Making a Murderer". Follows a family whose son was convicted of murder and the aftermath after a Netflix-type documentary comes out about him. Flashbacks throughout the book. Couldn't put it down towards the end!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

The plot revolves around the main family dying at beginning of the book (family includes 2 minors). The main family's oldest son is in prison for murder. One of the characters was in a serious car accident with resulting brain/mental injuries, the same character acts racist towards other characters.

We later learn the family was murdered, descriptions of the family's last moments from each of their perspectives before the killer does the deed is described. Father attempts suicide which is described in detail. We learn the antagonist (an adult) sexually assaulted the victim (who was a minor) in the past and murders them to cover it up (the victim was pregnant).

elhein's review

mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Sexual assault

podanotherjessi's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.25

I don't read a lot of mystery, so my opinion here should be taken with a pinch of salt. But this book bored me. I felt like the whole thing could have been wrapped up in an hour long TV show instead of a full novel, and that's probably a good sign mysteries might not be for me.
Beyond that, I didn't care about the characters at all. The main characters were boring, and the background characters felt cartoonish. Every time someone new was introduced, we got a chunk of description about who they were - what they look like, what their personality is, how they're connected to the MC. It was very telling, not showing. And this happened for everyone, no matter how unimportant they are.
There were also a lot of extrenuous detail and flashbacks that felt pointless. Maybe they were meant to be red herrings or to distract the reader, but it all felt unneeded. Very mild spoilers, example:

At one point the MC talks about not being able to stay with his aunt cause she has cats and he's allergic. Okay, small detail, not bad. But then the book flashes back to how he found out he was allergic, and there was no point to it.

Characters: 4
Plot: 7
Setting: 3
General appeal: 5
Writing style: 3
Originality 6
Ending: 7

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

msennflinn's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Infidelity

getbrekked's review

adventurous mysterious tense 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? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Child death, Death of parent, Death, and Dementia

Moderate: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Suicide and Racism

mjwilliamson's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Although there were times near the middle of the book where I felt unmotivated by the story, it was worth reading until the end. The characters were most certainly flawed and rough around the edges, but I think that is what makes them so compelling — they’re incredibly human. I liked the tendency to insert transcripts from the “docuseries” as I found it enchanted characters and message of that particular chapter. The overall stylistic intention of the book mimicking the documentary format was a nice touch too. I found that the parallel storylines of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ were the right narrative choice for Finlay to make as it not only provided non-info-dumped insight into characters and the details of Danny’s case, but it also kept the story rolling, unfurling each snippet when the explanations were required. Similarly, the switching narrators/perspectives added a nice holistic view of the case, its affect on various parties and the main plot as a whole. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Dementia

sfbookgirl's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.5

If you’re looking for something quick to read, this is it! I was a big fan of the short chapters and the easy-to-follow storyline. I didn’t even predict the ending! Every Last Fear begins with NYU student, Matt Pine, learning that his family has been murdered in Mexico. The local police claim that the murder was an accident, but the FBI is skeptical. This isn’t the first time that the family has been in the spotlight. The scandal with Matt’s older brother (tldr: in prison for allegedly killing a girl) and a true-crime Netflix series is what first created headlines. 
 
Matt, along with Agent Keller from the FBI, go on an adventurous chase to solve the murder of Matt’s family. Written from alternating perspectives, the reader won’t be able to guess the killer until the very end. And while though I didn’t predict the ending, the story didn’t give me that shocked "omg" reaction. The stereotypes presented about people in Mexico had no place in the book and some of the side storylines weren’t complete, but the book is a solid thriller for a reader looking for a quick thrill.

Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

gcorapi's review

dark tense 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent