Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

11 reviews

bufalowevr's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Suicide, Addiction, Drug abuse, Car accident, and Gun violence

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Wish we could do partial stars, but some we can’t, I’ll round up to four. I generally like Peter Swanson’s books. And I enjoyed this one too. The main issue I had with it is the same one I have with most cat-and-mouse stories - there’s nowhere really to go after the reveal. So as much as I enjoy most of the book, the endings often feel forced and hackneyed. I did like the format of the book starting out as a memoir. Reminded me a bit of Humbert’s confession. And like Humbert, the protagonist was really hard to like, especially as he revealed more and more of himself. The more I disliked him, the more I looked the book, which is usually the opposite for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Body horror, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Car accident, Murder, Pedophilia, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Sexual harassment, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, and Blood

mohaa's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Violence, Car accident, and Infidelity

sophia_dawn's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is the best thriller that I have read in a while. Using a severely unreliable narrator was a great way for the author to conceal the plot twists, and there were a lot. There were some very dark themes in this book, but I liked the cyclical aspect and how everything truly connected. It was intense and crazy. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Murder, Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Suicide

phantompansy's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Pedophilia

uchihas's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.0

i honestly never expect anything from the books i'm reading, but especially when the recommendations come from tiktok. i'd heard people rave about this one and despite not expecting anything i was still disappointed. i kept waiting for something interesting to happen. the protagonist is insufferable. absolutely could not stand him. the ONLY plus sides were that the minor characters weren't too bad, and there was a cat who stays safe and sound throughout the entire novel. 2 stars for the cat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Addiction

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Grief, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Pedophilia

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Stalking, Vomit, Car accident, Cursing, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

the_endless_void's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Drug use, Grief, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship

novi's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

3.0

I enjoyed it. It's not a fast action-packed thriller, but I'd say it's a pretty cozy read because it's set in the winter time, there are a lot of talks about mystery books in it, it's also set in a book store, and it's not very suspenseful. I never really felt that the stakes were high, even after we know the villain. So yes for me it's a bit anti-climatic, but it makes a pretty cozy read (and I already watched a review that said that the villain wouldn't be satisfying, so my hopes were not high). I recommend this for mystery book lovers just for all the books discussions and homages in this book.

But let me rant a bit here:

I already guessed the killer before it was revealed because even after 70% of the book, there is still no other character introduced. There is no way the killer would be someone that wasn't introduced to the readers. There's Tessa, but she's too unlikely. Gwen was already so weird since the beginning but she's also very unlikely. And our main character was already quite sinister so I wasn't surprised when he revealed that he also killed his wife. And I didn't even care about his wife!! So when he revealed that, as if he was hoping he'd be seen as the supervillain, I was just like, "okay..."

I think it's worth repeating that this book spoils the plot of many mystery/thriller books, beside the "eight perfect murders", there were also other books that were spoiled here, so make sure to do some googling about it if you don't wanna get spoiled. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Death, Infidelity, Medical content, Sexism, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Suicide, Sexual content, Pedophilia, and Gun violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

bookscoffeehayley's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

CW: death, violence, gore, mentions of addiction, sexual assault

What a quick, entertaining, contemporary take on the classic whodunit novel! This was the first Peter Swanson book that I’ve read. Was it a ground-breaking mystery? No, but it kept me guessing the whole time!

This was a great palette cleanser for me after reading the Shade and Bone Trilogy and Six of Crows Duo. I really liked the deep dive into classic mysteries, but there are some spoilers for those in this book. I definitely want to pick up some classic mysteries soon, but do be cautious if you are worried about spoilers if you read Eight Perfect Murders.

I didn’t love our narrator, Malcolm Kershaw. The book is written as Mal’s memoir and his voice is a bit pretentious throughout, which was sort of annoying.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, ode to the classics I do think you’ll like this one! I enjoyed it while I was reading, but I don’t think it’s a book that will stick with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault