Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

She Started It by Sian Gilbert

29 reviews

the_pink_pharmacist's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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::SPOILERS::

For about the first half of this book I had deja vu of sorts and was wondering if I had read it before. It reminded me a lot of The Guest List in its own way. 

I found the book to be very predictable which makes for a good book for my high level of anxiety. I really liked this book that being said. It wasn’t cheesy, it was a good slow revenge burn and I’d like to see what Wendy is up to next!

 Also, my hurts and burns with the rage of a mother for little Poppy. As my girls grow, it hurts me to know that there truly are mean girls out there like this. Ghosts of our past do appreciate the literary vindication of a girl treated so very wrongly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Self harm, Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt

bleusbookblog's review against another edition

3.0

challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I hate to be brutally honest but I did not enjoy this book. The characters were horribly unlikable and frankly annoying. I figured out the twist at 198 pages and it wasn’t that exciting. The only part that evoked an emotional response from me was about 3 sentences long. The writing was great. I will not deny that there was talent. The story was just not there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Physical abuse

jamiee_f's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark funny tense medium-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: Yes

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Four mean girls are invited to their former frenemy's bachelorette party, an all inclusive stay on a private island. They're too self absorbed to say no, and besides, what could go wrong? Spoiler alert:

everything.

With no cell service, no way off the island, and a LOT of secrets and pent up resentment, the five women hash out the past. Interspersed with diary entries by Poppy, who was tortured by our four mean girls in primary/secondary school, we learn just how mean these girls can be. Poppy sends them on pointed scavenger hunts, asks weird questions, and then reveals that she's only invited them here to ruin their lives: she has systematically taken each one of them down. The ladies fight and get drunk, and wake up to no Poppy in her bloody bedroom. No one trusts anyone else, and everyone starts to get suspicious. One by one, these ladies start dying, until there's just one left, at which point, 'Poppy' reveals herself. It turns out she's been murdering these ladies, as revenge for the actual Poppy: her sister who killed herself after years of bullying. A satisfying conclusion to this story about very terrible people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

running_erins_'s review against another edition

2.5

mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder

haleysversion's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail

mriou310's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Stalking

jennabeck13's review against another edition

2.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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She Started It by Sian Gilbert

⭐️⭐️ (2/5)

Genre: Thriller

About 340 pages

Poppy was relentlessly bullied by four girls (Esther, Chloe, Tanya, and Annabel) while in school. We’re talking recurring verbal attacks and malicious pranks…. So these four are quite surprised when they get an invitation from Poppy to a private island in the Bahamas for her bachelorette party. Their gut reactions are: “Why did she invite us?” and “Why would we go?” but the fact that Poppy is covering all the costs of this first-class trip makes them reconsider. So that’s how they end up on Deadman’s Bay. Albeit beautiful, the island is more remote than they expected, and Poppy is completely different than they remember. With hesitation, the four proceed with the trip…. A decision they may come to regret as it becomes clear that Poppy has ulterior motives and not everyone will make it out alive.

This one missed the mark for me…. It felt like a mix of And Then There Were None and Daisy Darker (both of which I loved), but not as well done. It was very similar to Daisy Darker which made it easy for me to figure out who was responsible. The characters were all unlikable but I will admit they had some good banter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity

chasingpages1's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Biphobia, Body shaming, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, Lesbophobia

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I first heard about this book when it was announced as a Book of The Month selection.
"She Started It" is an island thriller that is hellbent on exposing everyone's secrets. Annabel, Esther, Tanya, and Chloe were all best friends when they were in school together, but they have lost touch in their adult years. But, when Poppy, a classmate they bullied mercilessly, invites them all to a private island for her bachelorette party, they decide this is too good an opportunity to pass up. Unfortunately, Poppy has more sinister motives for getting them to this island, and everyone ends up with their darkest secrets exposed.
I did not have super high expectations for this book, and I think my expectations were adequately met. I was neither blown away by this plot, nor was I was disappointed. This book does discuss bullying and suicidal thoughts, so please read with care.
 

All of these characters are horrible. I really despised every one of these girls for all different reasons. Annabel, Esther, Tanya, and Chloe were all so horrible when they were young, and they are still making horrible decisions in their adult years. They are selfish, catty, and narcissistic, with some worse than others. Throughout the book, we jump around between everyone's perspectives, and honestly, I did not enjoy one person's perspective over the others. Sure, some were "less bad" than the others, but they are all just bad people who kept making detrimental mistakes.
My favorite part of this book was reading the journal entries from when they were young written by Poppy. Having this technique of writing did give away the ending for me, but those were the chapters that I was most invested in. I wish we could have seen more from Poppy, and I wish her ending could have been better. Poppy's story and journal entries are the only parts of this book that I have continued to think about.
The ultimate thrilling aspects of this book, and the "twists" I did see coming, but for the most part I was entertained. Everything made sense, and everyone's motives seemed plausible, but the plot twists just felt unoriginal to me.
I do think this book is pretty atmospheric. The bulk of the story takes place on this remote island in which they are cut off from the entire world, and I felt like the writing adequately described that. I felt the tension when the characters learned how remote they actually were, but I felt the sunshine when they got to enjoy the island. 

 
Overall, this book was fine. I probably will not think too much about it, but I would recommend it to someone looking for an island thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder

Moderate: Homophobia

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Infidelity, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use