Reviews with content warning for Violence - Tief in den Wäldern

It didn’t live up to the hype. I think the bad guy was revealed way WAY too early. I also don’t think we needed all these characters (Amber, Beth etc) to validate the history behind the story. Dark Roads almost seemed white washed, the focus is on Beth (Amber’s sister) who is a white girl from the city trying to solve her sister’s death.

Content Warnings

mary_stormageddon's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.0

I thought it was slower than Still Missing, but it was still enjoyable. Very sad.

Content Warnings

r3ader's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

3.0

READ TW'S BEFORE READING!

The first half was too slow, I feel like. I wanted to DNF, but bc I also wanted to know the ending, I kept reading. The last half was finished in the matter of a few days, so the pace definitely picks up towards the end.

I do have to say, that Beth and Hailey were annoying at times. Both acted like immature teenagers half the time (which is okay in Hailey, bc she is literally a teen, but Beth is too old to act like that).
A good example for that was when Beth

seriously expected Jonny to choose her before Hailey, like??? He know you for a few days and only slept with you once, he know Hailey for his WHOLE LIFE. You can't be mad at him, that he would choose Hailey.

The answer to the murder mystery was a bit surprising, but you could predict it towards the end. Still, not bad.

I definitely loved the attention the book brings to mmiw! Would have been nice to have an indigenous woman as a main character, too. ^^

Overall, good book, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to others.

Content Warnings

amieleigh8919's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

sarahberryshortcake's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This book had me hooked from the second I started it. It’s dark and parts are hard. Sometimes I would be reading and have to set down my kindle and take a breath to keep going. It’s really that good that you can’t stop. The different narratives are amazing. I am planning to read all of Chevy Steven’s books now. Im not really the biggest mystery/thriller fan usually but I’m hooked on her characters, the twists and how it hits hard about being a girl walking on a dark road

Content Warnings

ogokoo's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

If you're looking for a more procedural-oriented mystery that isn't too intense on character building, this is NOT the book for you.

Content Warnings

phantasmaboo's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens tells the stories of Haley and Beth, two young women who are tied together by the murder of young women in their small town. When Amber, Beth's sister and Haley's best friend, falls victim to the murderer, the two team up to catch them.

I thought this book was good. Stevens crafted a dark, atmospheric setting that kept me in suspense the whole time. While I didn't quite enjoy the graphic nature of the book at times, I thought that there was enough otherwise to keep me interested. The narrative switches between Beth and Haley's points of view throughout, so we get to see both sides of their grief, anguish, and fear. Even in the slower parts of the plot, I never thought that the pacing was suffering, which I think speaks to the power of Beth and Haley's voices. The plot does suffer, however, from the "continuous red herring", as I call it. That is, the book keeps us so focused on someone else that it is literally impossible to see the end coming. Because of that, the ending does feel somewhat abrupt and lackluster, because all of the tension was building up toward someone else. That character's ending also feels abrupt, in a way. Still, I can't say that this wasn't the author's intention, and I can't say that it was too bad.

The characters are pretty well-developed. I was scared for a while that one of the characters would devolve into a caricature of a racist, power hungry cop, but I think that Stevens treaded that line carefully and well enough that it didn't come off as forceful or over the top for the sake of the plot. The characters are not diverse as far as I can tell with the exception of (maybe) socioeconomic class. The author attempts to incorporate First Nations peoples and practices, but it is mentioned only in passing and doesn't incorporate any aspects of the culture beyond that. That all being said, the characters we do meet are compelling and deep, and Stevens writes them well enough that you can empathize with their struggles.

Overall, I give this book a 4/5 stars.

Content Warnings

mblanke's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

More...