Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall

54 reviews

sweet_t_reads's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

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Great book, so close to a five star. My heart was actually racing at one point. Perfect ending, great twists and other than the start being a little slow in pace and some sexual content that I just personally don't like to read, it was a GREAT thriller. 

To the author: Thank you for letting the dog have a happy ending. Thank you for having a good man be the partner, that is so rare in these types of books. Thank you for the choice she made at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Death of parent

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy

Trigger Warning: Religious Trauma/"Christian" Fundamentalist

imfixintoread's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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I was in the mood for a thriller and I have loved all of Kate Alice Marshall's previous thrillers. That said, while I did enjoy this, I found some of the nonlinear parts a bit confusing at times. I thought the ending was good and it did pick up towards the middle/end. It was rather slow in the beginning. A good thriller to disconnect with! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Murder

Moderate: Abortion

virginia_mcbride's review against another edition

4.0

dark sad tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol

pastacatz's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious 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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I selected this for my January Book of the Month subscription. This is a generally satisfying, easy-to-read thriller. It's a page turner, but some of the character's decisions while in life-threatening danger were really unbelievable and frustrating. Like the exact opposite of what to do.

The number of times Theo said they needed to leave and didn't leave. Ugh. However it's still a solid whodunit. I didn't put it together too prematurely, which I appreciated. That said, I didn't love the ending. It builds up the reveal so much and then it does the old skip ahead to the resolution, which kind of wasn't one. Maybe that's the point. In a world of class and privilege, there is often no real justice. Felt a little weird that after such a traumatic near-death experience though, Theo and Conner just go on to live a cozy life together with less extravagances, cutting off the family as if they are really free from what happened.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Sexual content

nanarchy's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

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The first half of the mystery was intriguing, but I feel it developed in to too many "shocking" twists by the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder

Moderate: Death of parent

jpkthebard's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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An intense story (Theo’s past) embedded in another intense story (Theo’s present). Lots of twists and turns. Compelling story with an ending that I liked but which felt unjust, which is 100% the point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Murder

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism

glitterofink's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism

hannah_hearts_books's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark 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: Complicated

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Wow, I’ve never read a Kate Alice Marshall book, so I didn’t know what to expect. At first, I was worried this was going to be a 3⭐️ read for me, but the ending took it to the next level. I look forward to reading other thrillers by this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage

cheyenne15's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Abortion, Murder

bexbooklover's review against another edition

3.0

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

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If you enjoy very atmospheric books then I would highly recommend this one. You get those isolated, in danger, don't know who to trust vibes very early on in this book, but that and the main character are pretty much the only thing that I enjoyed about this book sadly. 

The twist happened pretty early and I found it predictable aunt there was not a single thing about this book that felt truly realistic. Everything was so out there, outlandish and a little overdone for my taste. 

Which is very sad because I loved her other two adult thrillers and I really enjoy both her middle grade and YA books But sadly this one just did not work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Suicide

Minor: Self harm, Terminal illness, Alcohol