Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

21 reviews

savorsophia's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Well-written, fast-paced, interesting mystery. Fairly gory, but not scary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Body horror

Moderate: Bullying, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Cultural appropriation

tokki_reads's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Blood, Gaslighting, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, and Violence

whimsykat's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, and Confinement

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Bullying, Rape, Outing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, Racism, and Infidelity

violetvulptex's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, Murder, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Transphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Gore

vj_thompson's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Very interesting book. I preferred the story within the story. Would recommend the audiobook. The narrator truly embodied the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Murder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Cursing, Vomit, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Racism, Antisemitism, Excrement, and Child abuse

emsim's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.75

Still not sure what I read...Some wild sh*t happened.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Bullying, Drug use, Murder, Death, and Domestic abuse

amris's review

dark tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Bullying, Excrement, Sexual content, Drug use, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicide, Genocide, Body horror, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Vomit, and War

araowl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Vomit, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Gun violence, Outing, Gaslighting, Excrement, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Child abuse

taraaleitz's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I’m kind of “eh” about this book, but there were parts of it that were intriguing. This is Bartz first book, and for a first book it’s decent. There were a couple of plot twists that were unexpected and the storyline is interesting, I just don’t love the majority of the details that make up the book. But again, there were parts that were intriguing so I kept reading.

This was also the first book that I’ve  read that’s labeled as “horror” and maybe that put me off too.

Labeling this less than a 3 because the other books I read that I rated as 3’s just feel a little bit above this for my personal reading preferences. I also feel like it missed the mark for me a bit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit

laurafrances's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Biphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Confinement, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Body horror, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, and Grief