Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Teddy by Jason Rekulak

62 reviews

betsysbubble's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

I'm not entirely what to make of this book. The illustrations were genuinely creepy and freaked me out quite a bit which definitely added to the overall atmosphere of the novel. The pacing was extremely fast and easy to fall into - I read over 100 pages in what felt like half an hour - the pages just really flew by without much effort. 
I can't say that I entirely understand what happened in the end or why. The timing of events doesn't completely make sense in my head which is why this isn't a 4 star read. I find that with thrillers like this sometimes the endings start to feel extremely far-fetched to me and while this hasn't happened for this book I can see how it was teetering on that edge. 
HOWEVER, this was a quick read with plenty of twists and turns. I wasn't completely gripped but I was certainly interested enough to want to finish it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death, Grief, Murder, and Violence

savreads28's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Stalking, Drug use, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Confinement, Blood, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Violence, Dementia, Torture, Car accident, and Drug abuse

chandlerkl's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Addiction, Kidnapping, Drug use, Car accident, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Grief, Dementia, and Infertility

ashwatever98's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Gun violence and Grief

This book left me completely speechless at the end. It's a story unlike anything I've ever read before. Highly, HIGHLY recommend.

markedwithanm's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Addiction, Car accident, Drug use, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder

bxnnny's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious sad 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

3.0

this was a surprisingly quick read! i didn't necessarily find the story super compelling but i liked the characters, specifically the main character. i tend to have a soft spot for characters recovering from addiction because i just so badly want to see them succeed and do well. i think that is what i was mostly interested in the story for - i was really just invested in mallory's recovery journey and rooting for her to be okay. i didn't totally expect the twist which isn't typical for me! that being said, i'm not really all that into the paranormal and i wouldn't necessarily say this was a well-done mystery. this was really more just about mallory for me!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Addiction, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Sexual harassment

thebookishnurseescape's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Addiction, Murder, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

youthofpandas's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.5

Didn't enjoy it much until about 2/3rds in, thought the characters were weak and the mystery didn't hook me, but then things finally started happening. While I didn't think it was the most gripping plot nor did I feel rewarded for thinking about the clues brought up, it was more interesting than the first half. The writing style isn't anything complex but it is easy to read, like a bad low grade horror movie you can eat popcorn to and turn your brain off for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Addiction, Violence, Drug abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Drug use, Car accident, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

Minor: Police brutality, Racism, and Infertility

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

This was so good, I couldn’t put it down. There were so many things that happened that I did not expect in the least. It was a wild ride, especially the last 100 pages or so. This book goes to show that you never know the lengths someone will go to protect their own interests and cover up their own lies and deceit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Deadnaming, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Stalking, Torture, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing

erafact's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Racism, Infertility, Infidelity, and Grief