Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

20 reviews

thesonnetsilence's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I typically don't read thrillers, but I was happy I picked this one up. I couldn't put it down! I feel H.G. Kane was a refreshing and unique antagonist, and he was unlike anything I expected going into this book. I also think the emphasis on grief was very powerful, and I shed quite a few tears toward the end. There were twists and turns, and although I  did predict a couple of the major plot points, how we got there was filled with twists and turns that I wasn't expecting! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Body horror, Stalking, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcoholism, Infertility, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Fatphobia and Mass/school shootings

horizonous's review against another edition

The dog kind of talks.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Animal death

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent

◦ Mental illness = Depression

toofondofbooks_'s review

dark tense fast-paced

• 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

Yoooo this was such an out of pocket thriller. Once I got into it I was properly hooked. Something is keeping me from giving it 5 stars but to say anything about it would be too spoiler-y. It was pretty solid though and came with the "holy shit" moments that I expect from Taylor Adams after reading No Exit years ago.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Stalking

theinstabookworm's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

THE GOOD: Holy twists! Some I saw coming, but some I definitely didn't. This book gives you whiplash. I don't know if I've read a book with that many twists. Just when I thought the last twist had been revealed and the story was wrapping up, I'd look and see that there was still so much of the story left to read. I wondered many times if the twist I just read was the last, only to read another one shortly after. A book with this many twists has the potential to be really good, but can also be really bad if it relies too heavily on the twists and not enough on the plot. After DNFing NO EXIT by this author I went into this without high expectations, but I have to say I'm impressed! I also liked that there was a story within the story. Also, the dog is OK! Sorry if that's a spoiler.

THE BAD: The writing wasn't my favourite. I also wanted more suspense and shock factor.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Car accident, Murder, Alcoholism, Child death, and Vomit

dilani's review

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Loved the premise and the way this book panned out. I thought I knew what was happening until that last 25% of that book. Twist after twist my head was spinning by the end of it all. Also glad to say that the dog, Laika, ends up perfectly okay in the end. I don't think I would've rated this book a 4 had Laika not survived TBH. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Infertility, Car accident, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcoholism

ohhthehorrors's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Misogyny, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Infertility, and Suicidal thoughts

emeraldsanto's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Blood, Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, Car accident, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Child death, Alcoholism, Stalking, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Stalking, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Car accident

bookishwithbeth's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Death, Murder, Child death, and Gore

Minor: Fatphobia, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

solenophage's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

 Tone's a little weird. The killer is such a played-up incel stereotype that he can only read as comical, but the other characters seem relatively grounded and we're supposed to take their plights seriously. It felt sort of unbalanced, how 'real' are these characters supposed to be? How much is this satire and how much is it horror? I don't think this book quite hit on a good middle ground.

Otherwise, it was a fun read. It was fast-paced and tense at the right moments, with a heroine that who, while not infallible, was clever and easy to root for. Despite the more outlandish elements, I was never fully taken out of the story and had a hard time putting it down.

And the dog lives, thank god!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Car accident, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Gun violence, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Blood, Car accident, Gore, Mental illness, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexism, and Suicide