Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Burden Falls by Kat Ellis

6 reviews

bittie_bee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, and Blood

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

sonygaystation's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.75

I loved the premise, had a really good time with the environment and how everything was set up, and thought the characters were so sweet. My biggest hang up is the BBEG because the rationale and build up didn’t feel fleshed out enough, and there wasn’t much feeling looking back on the story to feel all that impacted by the reveal. The ending was satisfyingly tense in spite of it though, but that’s entirely because I really liked the MC.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Confinement, Gore, Car accident, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Addiction, and Alcohol

outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Ava Thorn's family have lived in the 'big house' in Burden Falls for several generations. The town has its own creepy legends including that of Dead-Eyed Sadie, a ghost who appears to someone when they are about to die. Following the tragic deaths of her parents in a car accident, Ava is left in the care of her father's younger brother, Uncle Ty & his wife Carolyn but Ava is distraught to learn that not only has her uncle sold their home but he sold it to the family of her greatest enemies at school, the Miller twins: Freya & Dominic. Even her best friend, Ford, seems about to desert her for them. When a missing girl, Claire Palmer, is found dead in the local waterfalls, this is just the start of the mysterious deaths, & each one seems to point at Ava as the murderer, but Ava has more to worry about as she has started to see Dead-Eyed Sadie everywhere.  

This is a YA horror mystery & it's not bad actually. It has a slow pace to start, but once the story starts to pick-up it becomes a page-turner. I really liked the supernatural aspects of the story, & I thought that the enemies-to-lovers trope was handled well as it didn't overshadow the rest of the plot. Unfortunately the reveals at the end were pretty much what I had expected which was a little disappointing. Verdict: it's well written & keeps the attention, but when you drill down through the layers of horror &  supernatural elements, it's easy to guess 'whodunnit'.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Drug use and Adult/minor relationship

alexisaflop's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

5.0

Been stuck in an airport all day and bought and completed the book here. It is very captivating and tense. As a murder mystery I usually have some guess as to what I expect. This book flipped all expectations, when I thought I knew what was happening it all changed (but in an excellently paced way). The main character is loveable but has clear flaws from the get go. There is diversity but it's not heavily forced, it is just part of the characters. 

HAVE ADDED A LIST OF CONTENT WARNINGS (the most important is the graphic detail of gore that was a bit unexpected).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Violence, Murder, Gore, Mental illness, Death, and Blood

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, and Drug abuse

ericacanjustaboutread's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Car accident

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders

hannahadamson's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

I devoured this book! The story was so tense and intriguing and there were so many twists and turns that kept me guessing the whole way through.
I honestly couldn’t put it down!

I also really loved the main character and her friends, and I loved seeing her relationship with Dominic grow throughout the book.

The big twist at the end was also super satisfying. I didn’t see it coming at all, but looking back there were plenty of clues littered throughout the story.

I would definitely highly recommend this book to anyone who loves small town, YA thrillers! It will definitely keep you hooked from the first page.

*please check trigger warnings before reading*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship