Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

59 reviews

shellanor_rigby's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Death

Minor: Domestic abuse

tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

First person romance is far from my usual, but I was completely taken in by the warmth and freshness of this story. Yes, it's a trope for the ages, but the healthiness of the relationship between the leads was such an unexpected delight. A male love interest with emotional maturity and an overabundance of green flags? Clear discussions of boundaries and feelings? It was a breath of fresh, Texas air and the best kind of romcom you can root for all wrapped into one wise, silly, hopeful package. I adored it. I adored all of these characters. And I especially adored Jack's family.

The one thing that stretched my suspension of belief was the bodyguard team's antics. There's a lot of telling us about how great they are, meanwhile what's shown is a lot of... high school level drama. I just wish we'd seen more of what made this team - and our lead by association - capable enough to be hired by a beleaguered celebrity. 

All that being said: Do not - do not! - go into this book expecting realistic drama or steamy romance. It's a bantery, feel-good, reverse bodyguard trope that runs on rom-com logic, but (mostly) in the best way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Stalking, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Medical content, Blood, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment and Vomit

Overall: It's a very light-hearted, hopeful book but it deals with some background heavy topics. In order or prevalence:

Death of parent, death, grief: Very beginning of book skims over the main character's mother dying, and the grief from that is a catalyst for the rest of the book. Grief (and hope) is a major theme.

Domestic/Physical abuse: Past, as a memory. A very violent incidence of it and the injuries/aftermath is described by character who was a child at the time.

Stalking: With one lead being a famous actor, there's lots of discussions about stalking in general. Stalking incidents are discussed in detail, though light-heartedly, until

one gets violent -> see gun violence.

Gun violence, suicide attempt, blood, injury: Someone is shot at and mildy injured.

In a hostage situation characters are held at gunpoint and one suffers a graze on the head that bleeds a lot but isn't too serious. The shooter plans to kill himself, not the hostages, but is talked down.

Toxic Relationship: Heroine has a generally very shitty ex-boyfriend.

Cancer: The male lead's mother is going through cancer treatment. There's mention of having and recovering from surgery, and the characters often briefly visit a hospital. The prognosis

ends up being very good and she completely recovers.

Alcoholism: More than one background character suffers from it.

One was killed before the story from driving recklessly under the influence.

Car accident, death: Past incident. The accident is described in detail more than once and led to a death by drowning.

The driver was under the influence, drove too fast, went off a bridge and drowned.

Drowning: One almost-incident during the story and one in the past - both described in some detail.

Vomit: One character has a phobia that he often vomits after being exposed to. It's not described in detail.

Abandonment: A character briefly describes a parent leaving them and their other parent abruptly when they were very young.

caitlynlargent's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Cancer, and Blood

rayannotates's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, and Stalking

emilia_thereader's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Blood

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Stalking, and Car accident

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Death

Minor: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Cancer

rsmiley716's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, and Stalking

robinterschak's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

SO. GOOD. The twist and turns that this book took me on was unfathomable when I first started the book. Found myself rooting for everyone involved!

even found myself rooting for the 'bad' guys

Found myself a new author to read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Gun violence, and Suicide attempt

There is a stalker who has suicidial ideations towards the end of the book, accidentally shoots main character of book

Multiple mentions of stalking of a famous celebrity

Protagonist's mother died prior to the start of the book, death and strained relationship mentioned throughout

sebradley29's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Cancer, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, and Death

miss_vonnegut's review against another edition

funny lighthearted

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

4.5

This is almost 5 stars--I really enjoyed it. There were times when it felt a bit like the old trope of "she's not like other girls," which isn't something I like. That aside, it was a fun and enjoyable read. I like the characters and I loved that the female character was the bodyguard (honestly that's the whole reason I read it). I would have liked for her to showcase more of her bodyguard skills, but there were several moments where she did and it was fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, and Stalking

Moderate: Alcoholism and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Gun violence and Blood