Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart

15 reviews

kbio's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Stalking, and Torture

Moderate: Drug use

goosegirl16's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The small chapters make it easy to digest and the alternating chapters between the two main characters makes the book fly by. Although the twist was somewhat predictable, it still caught me off guard as the puzzle pieces slowly were put together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Blood, Body horror, Self harm, Physical abuse, Murder, and Gore

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Stalking, Torture, Cursing, Mental illness, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Medical content, Murder, Addiction, Death, Drug use, and Body horror

chasingpages1's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Torture, Medical trauma, Violence, Medical content, Blood, and Stalking

Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

leazybeazy's review against another edition

mysterious 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

1.0

It was a good premise, but we learnt little about Wren and an incredible amount about the Butcher. The location could have really been anywhere with swamps, there was very little sense of place despite the book being set in New Orleans. The descriptions of the dead bodies were incredibly graphic by comparison. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death of parent, Confinement, Blood, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death, Body horror, Stalking, Alcohol, Drug use, Murder, and Medical content

lindseyrenee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Animal death

lizzieinmt's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I was skeptical to read this since I found Alaina throigh the podcast. But her writing was so rich and her descriptions so vivid and well chosen I found myself completely engrossed and forgetting this wasn't a real case. I also wasn't able to guess the plot twists before they happened, which was a welcome change in thrillers. Additionally I appreciated how much reallife info from being an autopsy tech she was able to put in, it made the case feel very reakistic. Would absolutely recommend to fans of Morbid or of crime novels generally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Moderate: Stalking, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

rainbowcerberus's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, Stalking, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug use

melchncookies's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Confinement, Medical content, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol, Cannibalism, Excrement, and Drug use

semeyers's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

1.0

 Unfortunately, this book is just not good. At all. There are some genuine moments of suspense and some visceral descriptions of the crimes, but these were not enough to lift the overall book past a 1-star review. Luckily, it's a quick read.

This book was clearly minimally-if-at-all edited and it could have used a heavy handed editor and more guidance. My copy had several spelling errors ("vile" instead of "vial", for example) and grammatical errors throughout. The descriptions were over the top and often clunky, falling flat with how much they tried to pack in. The chapters themselves were hard to follow at times, characters were often in one room, then suddenly a completely different place in the next paragraph. The characters were flat. No personality, no hobbies, no background, no development, no arc. I really didn't feel a connection with any of them and the Butcher was not a very compelling villain - he has no M.O., no consistency, and is over the top edgy. The most we learn about Wren's personality and background is she likes her hair in messy buns and her grandma left her a vintage ring. That's it.

The author has also never been to New Orleans and relied heavily on stereotypes and basic descriptions. Fleur-de-Lis are featured, there are bayous and cypress trees at every turn, there's a fortune teller, and if I had to hear one more description on how hot and "thick" the air was, I may have lost it. I also did not love the medical procedure spiels and serial killer name drops/info dumps. Neither of these added much, if anything, to the story and just seemed like the author wanting to insert her own knowledge.

The 7-year jump did not confuse me, I thought it was done okay, but it was easy to spot the twist coming. My issue is that the 7-year jump is not enough time to make the twist believable

You're telling me that in 7-years, the Butcher has fallen totally out of the memory of the police/media? Not a single cop is still on the force that remembers? The media doesn't think to draw comparisons? Also, in 7 years, Wren has not only finished med school AND a residency, but she's managed to became lead pathologist in a major US city? No.

. Had 20, maybe even 15, years passed? Okay, I'd buy it.

Once I learned that this book was written with a movie deal in mind, it all made sense. The characters don't need to have much emotion on the page, that can be added on the screen with actors. The sudden jumps in place for the characters are camera cuts. I think this will work better as a move than it did as a book.

I was surprised to see the relatively high review, until I noticed many of the 4- and 5-star reviews are from fans of the author's podcast. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, and Gore

Minor: Vomit and Drug use