Reviews tagging 'Blood'

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

138 reviews

j_emerson18's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Toxic relationship, Death, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Grief, Addiction, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Addiction, Grief, Murder, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Blood, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Classism, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, and Gore

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Stalking, and Homophobia

logsbooklog's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

2.5

a pretty by-the-numbers, tropey whodunnit with overwraught writing and a cast of stock characters with very few interesting inversions. despite these problems, the books pace does pick up quick from a rough beginning, and it kept my attention even as i groaned at a lot of the twists and cliches.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Addiction, and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia

ell_n's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, and Drug abuse

Minor: Alcohol

mthornburg13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75

Like if "If We Were Villians" was about Greek life. Good twists but somewhat predictable after a point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Death, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Blood, Addiction, Sexual violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, and Classism

chuck3791's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, and Infidelity

Moderate: Blood, Addiction, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit, Sexism, and Outing

kirstencholewa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Blood, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Stalking, Death of parent, Homophobia, Body shaming, and Drug use

saoirses's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

matcha_cat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, and Infidelity

Moderate: Violence, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, and Addiction

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Rape, Suicide attempt, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

itzbrianna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is a tense and fast pace story of betrayal, murder, and revenge. Jessica Miller, the protagonist, is probably the most unlikeable main character I’ve ever had the experience of reading. Still, her awful personality did not take away from the story. In fact, it enhanced it. 

This book touches on classism, perfectionism, and misogyny intertwining it all into a deceitful narrative that will have you wondering who is telling the truth. Who killed Heather Shelby and why? 

If you enjoy fast paced mysteries with dual timelines you’ll enjoy this book. The dual timelines were my favorite part. The now vs the past and how it all interconnected by the end left me with a great appreciation for the editing and structure it took to make this novel. Ashley Winstead has found a fan in me. I’m excited to read her other works. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Classism, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide attempt, Homophobia, and Stalking