Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Searcher by Tana French

19 reviews

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

5.0

Reread review (February 2024):

Rating: 5/5 stars

Cal Hooper is a retired cop seeking a quiet life in Ireland when he gets drawn into a search for a missing teenager.

Tana French is one of my all-time favorite authors and the author I credit with both getting me back into reading as an adult and getting me into mysteries and thrillers. I first read THE SEARCHER when it was released in 2020 and I really enjoyed it then, but I reread it in February in preparation for the sequel (THE HUNTER) and I absolutely LOVED IT this time around. I am obsessed with these characters and the slow burn creepiness and tension of the plot.


French has such talent as a writer, and this shines through with incredible memorable lines and small moments of heart and humor throughout the book. This is both a taut and compelling mystery and an intricate character study of a man reevaluating his purpose and a community grappling with societal change and the tension between modernity and tradition. I highly recommend this one, especially on audio, and cannot wait to dive into THE HUNTER!

CW: Violence/injury/blood/death; physical abuse; mentions of animal cruelty/death.

Original review (October 2020):

Probably closer to 3.5 stars for the actual plot, but the characters were delightful and the book was thoroughly enjoyable all the way through!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Death, and Murder

Minor: Police brutality

kyrajg'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I've read almost all of Tana French's books, and although this one is still a great novel, it was missing something for me. The first 100 or so pages are really slow, but after that the plot picks up. Compared to French's other books, I found the prose to be lacking. Maybe it's because the main character is American, but something was missing for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Murder and Gun violence

wyabook234's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

kshy's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Cursing, Alcohol, Police brutality, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Stalking and Suicide

aseel_reads's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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

1.0

I only continued with this book because it was an easy audiobook to listen to, otherwise, it became copganda about halfway through and then it had some really off putting actions by certain characters who never got punished and I don't like that 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Death, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

seadeepy's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Classism, and Animal death

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, and Domestic abuse

annniina98's review against another edition

2.0

Long, dragging, boring start, quite good middle, a huge let down as the revelation. I can see that some people would love to have this much set up, even in a thriller. But the ending was rushed, there is no way around it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, and Grief

Minor: Rape

aileron's review

mysterious reflective tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse and Violence

Minor: Suicide, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Car accident

mirandap442's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Addiction, Drug abuse, Gore, Blood, Death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol and Cursing

Minor: Suicide

jenniferpalmblad's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Violence

Minor: Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Stalking, Violence, Alcoholism, Car accident, Grief, Kidnapping, and Suicide