Reviews tagging 'Racism'

No Exit by Taylor Adams

34 reviews

ireadtoescape_'s review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

1.5

I never would have picked this book up had it not been a book club pick. Stressful. 

I will say that part of the premise is very frustrating. The constant bad bad, very bad decisions were exhausting.

Starting with Darby herself - who goes on a wintery long-distance trip so completely unprepared???

Come on!! I get it adds to the plot but wow, my sister!! Also, be more inventive as an author?? I don’t know… The converse sneakers in winter really did me in ☹️😪😪 everyone knows converse are not shoes for the winter!! Even if you’ve never worn them, everyone in your life will tell you that converse are not for the cold. They’re freezers!! Honestly!!

Anyway, white men write women characters in a very odd way. I don’t know. Unsettling at times. 

The villain was a lot! And I don’t know if I’m happy with how he’s been written as well. Was exhausting at the end of it. And obviously had to be good-looking. 👀 hot white guys can be villains, too. Diversity 🫶🏾

The ableism. Omg. I cannot!! The use of rat-face was so awful on top of that. This author said you all WILL know that I am a dude bro. Ew. 

Also the bus driver lady??? Lol!! What do you mean, Mother Theresa!!??? 😭😭😭😭 What in the warped altruism??  I couldn’t believe that when I read it. No ways, my sister??! What a mess. 

Ask me how this author found a way to include racism PLUS a racial slur that added absolutely nothing to the plot in a book with only white characters. Pls what the hell! The guy is a child abductor - he’s a terrible person. That’s enough to convince us. It doesn’t need to be substantiated with racism that added nothing to the plot. Urgh. This may be the last book by a white man I ever read because no ways??? 😭 I’m a baby girl who deserves better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Trafficking

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Pedophilia

uchihas's review

dark funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Alcoholism

Minor: Dementia, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Animal death, Torture, Trafficking, Car accident, and Racism

violetbentbackwards1036's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Alcoholism, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Pedophilia, Medical content, Terminal illness, Torture, Trafficking, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Animal death, Gore, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Rape, Gun violence, Murder, and Vomit

zianna_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Alcohol, Torture, Vomit, Cursing, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Racism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pedophilia

elkiebear's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Vomit

steigmd's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

This book could have been so much more if it didn’t rely on racism for the main villain. The story was fine, unbelievable at times, but nothing too crazy for thrillers. However, I had to stop myself from throwing the book across the room more than once at its blatant racism and the fact that it seemed like Taylor Adam’s has never met a women in his life, with how Darby was written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Pedophilia, Racism, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Trafficking, Violence, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Xenophobia

rae_bookmarkchronicles's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.25

I would recommend this book to people who are fans of Gillian Flynn. Taylor Adams has a talent for creating gross characters that make you uncomfortable and situations that give you the ick.

This was definitely thrilling and had a lot of plot twists however there were some elements that I did not enjoy: the use of the n-word and other slurs, unnecessary vulgarity at times, and things of that nature.

I will be listing content warnings for this, there are a ton.

I would recommend the Hulu movie adaptation but caution that there is a lot of blood and it includes drug use that is not present in the book. I gave the movie 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Trafficking, Racism, Vomit, Ableism, and Sexual assault

airr's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Trafficking, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Vomit, Racism, and Cancer

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

mmarlborough'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I’ve had this book on my ereader for a long time and I vowed to finally read it before watching the film adaptation recently released on Hulu. While I couldn’t put the book down (and will definitely watch the movie), I was a bit disappointed with this thriller. 

Darby is racing from her college to see her dying mother in a blizzard when she is stranded at a remote rest stop in Colorado. Thinking she’s in for a long night while the roads are closed, she makes small talk with the four strangers she’s stuck with. Darby soon stumbles on the unthinkable: a child locked in a dog crate in one of her fellow traveler’s cars. She doesn’t know who’s car it is or who to trust and she has no cell service. Darby is suddenly trapped in a nightmarish cat and mouse game, fighting for an innocent child’s life. 

The short chapters, cinematic writing, and alternating POVS made this impossible to put down. But there were so many plot points that happened just to raise the stakes that it felt forced to me (DM me if you want to talk details!) I also wanted to know more backstory and details about our villain. All that said, if you want a thriller you can’t put down, you’ll love this book.

⚠️Trigger Warning: Cancer, Kidnapping, Child Abuse, Racism, Animal Death (brief mention, not detailed), Gore, Death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Cancer and Racism

Minor: Animal death

bookishgoob's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.5

a college girl ends up a rest stop with 4 other strangers during a blizzard. 

The suspense in this book starts immediately with the MC, Darby, realizing she forgot her phone charger, had no signal, and was caught in a blizzard and it doesn’t slow down from there. Having no cell signal in a room full of strangers on a terribly cold night is one thing, but that phone having only about 4% battery is the cherry on top of this anxiety inducing realization. The racial slurs were completely unnecessary. There are better ways to sue that your bad guy is a bad guy than using a racial slur, especially as a white author. I also think that the way the POV’s switched so abruptly was a bit confusing. I’m not a huge fan of men writing thrillers because of the way that their stories have the most awful, stomach churning, and sadistic things happening to their characters. I will say that the constant plot twists were incredibly exhausting. The first couple were so creepy and bamboozling but after the third and fourth it became a mind boggling enigma. That’s something I didn’t enjoy about it. There was so much that happened that I couldn’t fully take in because of the plot twist after plot twist writing Adams displayed in this story. I did enjoy it, I read it in about 4 hours so it was a very quick read. It had me holding my breath and biting my nails from the suspense. all in all I think it deserves a 3.5/5 star rating. 

POSSIBLE TRIGGERS: 

Death of a parent 

cancer 

body horror

blood

ableist slurs 

racial slurs 

attempted suffocation 

confinement 

vomit 

kidnapping 

implied sexual assault 

implied human trafficking 

implied pedophilia 

violence against women 

dark inner monologue about women 

sadism

snow storm

freezing 

gun violence 

amputation

vomit

medical trauma

medical needs not able to be met 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Trafficking, Vomit, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness