Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin

5 reviews

katiethepenguin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0


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toofondofbooks_'s review

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

4.0

"Trouble Girls" is a sapphic YA novel about two best friends who are about to go on a road trip, but after a night of unthinkable violence, they end up on the run from the law. 

This book was an extremely quick read with engaging characters and an action packed story. I thought that the chemistry between the two main characters was electrifying and their devotion to each other unlike anything I've seen in YA recently. Even when things were at their worst, I never questioned their love for each other, it's the kind of love that was not only romantic, but familial. You can tell that they aren't going to let each other go without a fight. The way that things unfolded, especially their relationship, was realistic in most aspects, but there were some things that I thought were weird about the journey. However, I can't really explain that without giving away spoilers and I try to keep these spoiler free.

 I really thought it was cool and kind of claustrophobic how it felt like I was with these girls the whole time. When they expressed being too hot, or hungry, or thirsty, or dead tired, it felt like I could feel it, too, which is something I don't always experience. I liked how the ending left things open for interpretation, which is also really all I can say about that. 

Something that really stressed me out was the lack of chapters. There aren't any chapters, it's just continuous, separated by page breaks. It was still a good and easy read, but I really, really would have preferred chapters. It made my head hurt. 

Extra points for the beautiful cover.

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librarianlex's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Didn't live up to the hype. 

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obscurepages's review against another edition

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

4.0

 It's my first read for Pride Month and I'm so glad to say I enjoyed it! Trouble Girls was a great read! It was dark, poetic, gritty, and poignant.

The overall story is a very real and heartbreaking example of what women go through because of terrible men. The characters were also compelling, and I was particularly moved by the MC's perspective. Also, it's very hard to explain it, but this book just makes you feel things. It takes you on such an emotional and haunting journey on finding freedom and love, and running from your fears. Overall, I enjoyed this one.

CW: sexual abuse/sexual harassment, rape, attempted rape, blood, gore (mild), domestic abuse, toxic relationships

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for sending over an ARC! This, of course, did not affect my overall opinion of the book.

(Check out the rest of my Pride Month TBR!)

Find me elsewhere: Instagram | Twitter | Blog 

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melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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

3.25

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an arc of this book.

On a weekend trip, best friends Trixie and Lux run into trouble at a bar and the night ends in violence. The girls go on the run as wanted fugitives, and they have to deal with harsh truths and realities as they leave behind the only life they've ever known, and only have each other to hang onto.

I so badly wanted to love this book, but it just didn't grip me the way I had hoped it would.  I felt like the pacing was quite slow, and I didn't feel like I knew the characters enough to really care about them. The important things that happened were kind of glanced over in the writing to make way for more reflection from Trixie, which is fine, but makes for a read where it feels like you're always waiting for the action to start.

The most interesting part of this book for me was the discussions of sexual assault, the forum posts, and where the girls went with that. I thought those parts made some really good points and was an important topic.

I was not a fan of the ending of this book, personally.

Pub Date: June 1, 2021

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