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alexisgarcia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
i absolutely loved No Exit by this author so i thought this had to be good. i think the premise is super interesting and different, but it fell short. while this was definitely tense and action-packed, it was almost too much. there was an absurd amount of twists and turns that weren’t executed well. it felt like the authors gun ran out of bullets so they just started throwing rocks. these twists were predictable while also feeling so unnecessary and overdone. also the ending??? what kind of hallmark/lifetime movie did this turn into at the end?
*slight spoiler****
also, if you’re an author and you’re writing a mystery or thriller and it is based around one of the main “villains” having a mental illness, just don’t???? this heavily perpetuates mental health stereotypes and stigmas, which simply aren’t true. this is so played out and just downright harmful and inaccurate.
Graphic: Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Grief, Miscarriage, Infertility, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts
chasingpages1's review
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Animal death, Death, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Car accident, Child death, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical content, Addiction, Excrement, and Eating disorder
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Mostly I found the male-narrated parts to be annoying but insightful. I think part of it was the narrator's voice, and the character himself to be annoying, but I think he was sort of modeled after INCELs.
Whereas Emma's parts are more palatable. I took her POV to be more reliable, as some things were told from both POVs but the spin of the character.
I didn't expect the final twist with Emma and what had happened in her life prior to the beach.
Overall it was a pretty good book. And I'm so glad that Laika survived!
Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Minor: Infertility and Bullying
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
4.5
"Coincidences are fine in real life. But in fiction, they're bad writing."
I’ve been meaning to try his books for years now, and of course there was no way that I was going to resist the blurb of The Last Word for long. I love books with bookish angles, and what is more fascinating AND terrifying than a thriller read where an author slash killer goes after a person leaving him a one star review? And while things can be said about the plot being over the top and you definitely have to suspend your belief, I personally didn’t care because I was too busy enjoying the ride. This was exactly the dark, twisted and exhilarating read I needed! There is just something about the writing style that makes it very easy to fly through the pages, and the plot itself only increases that pace. The POVs are somehow blurred in points, and at times it takes a second before you realize who is in the spotlight; this would usually highly annoy me, but somehow in The Last Word it only added to the suspense. There are plenty of twists along the way as well, and with (at times) two contrasting POVs telling how the events happened it makes you wonder what is the real version. Again, this is usually something that would bother me, but in this case it somehow worked. Even the characters: none of them are exactly likeable, but since the main focus is on the plot and the life or death situation it's not as important. The Last Word definitely tips its toe in the horror genre though, and warnings are in place for particularly gruesome and graphic scenes as well as animal cruelty. If you think you can stomach those and like your thrillers on the dark and twisted side, I can highly recommend this story.
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Misogyny, Stalking, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Bullying, Body horror, Self harm, Suicide, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
bekah1210's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Animal cruelty, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Child death, Mental illness, Gun violence, and Grief
Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Stalking, and Mass/school shootings
vj_thompson's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Grief, Stalking, Mental illness, Vomit, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Infertility, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Death, Eating disorder, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, and Bullying
maregred's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, and Car accident
Moderate: Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking
Minor: Bullying and Pregnancy
greatestheights's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
More spoilers from here on out, as I bravely dare to rate and review a thriller about a murderous writer going after the bored, grieving woman who roasted his book on Amazon. I too am bored and grieving, but this is Goodreads, and I promise not to be too mean.
Anyway.
I am once again absolutely begging thriller writers to please, for the love of God, stop writing villains with mental illness. It is not the fun plot device you think it is! I've known and cared for two people who have Howard's diagnosis, and it's not a goddamn punch line. People with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of it. Too, Howard's diagnosis was a red herring. It added nothing to his character except to perpetuate a bunch of gross stereotypes.
That aside, I enjoyed a lot of things about this book. It was entertaining, creepy, full of twists, and the aforementioned (alive!) dog should have been the narrator. I also spent a ton of time rolling my eyes, sending screenshots to my best friend demanding to know how there could be so many hours left in the audiobook by the fifth time I thought it surely had to be drawing to a close, and wondering how many more times Howard was going to bisect something.
This is just a PSA to all white ladies: If you smell synthetic butter around your remote rental house and think a shadowy figure is watching you sleep, do not pass go, do not collect whatever the fuck, do not CONTINUE BLITHELY LIVING IN THE HOUSE — just leave. Also, don't play Hangman with random old men who have telescopes. Also also, how did this genius astrophysicist warrior woman not know what Hangman was?!
A BIG TW BELOW:
tw tw tw tw infant loss!!!
Idk why I keep picking up books that have surprise infant loss plotlines, but lol, I keep finding them. The detail was particularly brutal, and even though I knew it was coming, I sobbed for the last hour of this book.
Lots of other stuff to say about the plot and characters and Emma's interesting range of choices, but I've truly gone on long enough and I'm still not sure how I want to rate it. Twoish stars because...*gestures broadly*
Taylor Adams, if you're reading this, please don't murder me with a katana.
Graphic: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Kidnapping, Gore, Vomit, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Infertility
Moderate: Bullying and Alcoholism
steed17's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Blood and Murder
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Grief, Infertility, Child death, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
marrireadsandrambles's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, and Infertility
Minor: Alcoholism and Bullying
The dog survives!