Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier

9 reviews

foxmulders's review against another edition

fast-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? Yes

2.0

hillier can keep me reading bc she's talented but....this one was kind of a mess. the twist at the end feels lazy and there are some Questionable character choices throughout that are gross.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Transphobia, and Rape

creepycrawlybookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, and Pedophilia

Minor: Transphobia and Fatphobia

haleybre's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Infidelity

traa's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, and Stalking

Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Suicide, Transphobia, Vomit, Excrement, Infidelity, Alcohol, Cancer, Abortion, Physical abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Police brutality, and Alcoholism

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Fatphobia

holln_14's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense

4.5

The small town of Seaside thrives off the success of the Wonderland amusement park. What's good for Wonderland is good for the town. So when a body turns up at wonderland followed by a missing person, rumors start to swirl. Vanessa Castro is new to town and is determined to not let anything at wonderland slide. Everyone has something to hide and no one wants to talk. This thriller is gripping and addicting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

lllkilli's review

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

covublitz's review

dark mysterious slow-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

2.0

ICK. I like the general idea of this book (

serial killer in a theme park

), but omg. 
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The trigger warning list for this book is a mile long (it would have been shorter to select what’s NOT in it), and it is WILDLY problematic. Characters are horribly unlikeable and should certainly all be in prison. The casual homophobia and transphobia are disgusting, as is the graphic and frequent pedophilia . Main character runs around with a victim mentality when she’s one of the worst of the bunch. Honestly, if they had all died I would have cheered. 
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Two stars only because I couldn’t figure out the killer right away (

thought it was going to be the original park owner/child molester and faked his death in the fire so he could continue to kidnap teenage boys and lock them in the sex dungeon he built under the park — nope. Turned out to be an incel revenge plot because the new sexual predator/CEO had rejected this dude when he got too old to be her type, so he kidnapped all the people that aged out of her abuse, put them in the OG sex dungeon because they weren’t good enough for her anyway, and murdered them when he ran out of space and needed to go grab someone else.

).
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Picked it up for a horror/thriller bookclub. Hate-read my way through it, then took a really long, hot shower to get the ick off my skin. This book sticks with you, and not in a good way.  Do not recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Mental illness, Confinement, Pedophilia, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Torture, and Homophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Transphobia

mysterymom40's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Murder, and Confinement

Moderate: Kidnapping, Gore, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Cursing, Blood, and Torture

Minor: Gun violence, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Excrement

scene with a rat; body found with eaten off face; clowns mentioned; creepy doll; graphic sex scenes; female having toxic, sexual relationships with young men

chemistreadingonthejob's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Hair-raising, Unpredictable, and Calculated 

Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier is a serial killer thriller that is hard to put down. Jennifer Hillier intricately weaves multiple perspectives into a cohesive story that reveals something shocking almost every chapter. The main protagonist Vanessa, a newly hired Deputy Police Chief and mother, has a compelling back story and a fierce personality. Unfortunately, just as her family starts over in Seaside, a homicide investigation threatens to topple the reputation of the area's main tourist attraction, Wonderland. Events of the present are startlingly similar to the dark past that hides beneath the cheery surface of the clown museum. 

One of my favorite parts of this book was the cult mentality of Wonderland. The entire town revolves around this amusement park. The police drop everything to handle Wonderland related incidents swiftly and quietly. This book provides a detailed array of diverse characters. Some are likeable such as Vanessa and Jerry, a retired detective (also found in Jennifer Hillier's novel Creep). Others are cringeworthy like Bianca, who is known as the dragon lady that runs the park and resident cougar. All are well written with interesting perspectives. Loving this book was unexpected. A creepy amusement park setting has been done before, but the atmosphere is fitting and feels unprecedented with the way it's put together. Everytime I thought I had predicted the outcome, I would fall victim to another misdirection. In the end, I could never have guessed where this story was leading, but it came together brilliantly. All I can say is that it's always the people you least expect. Readers looking for a unique and unsettling thriller will love this. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence