Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Pine by Francine Toon

9 reviews

fabelfuchs's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Violence

elysianbud's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

I tried reading this ages ago and DNF'd it. Picked it up again and gave it another chance and actually really enjoyed myself. Creepy and mysterious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Grief, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Bullying, Blood, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, and Animal death

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Murder, Kidnapping, Vomit, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

odrib's review

dark mysterious sad 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: Bullying, Addiction, Animal death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Murder, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

nenaveenstra's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Not much happens in this book, except towards the end, but still it was eerie in a way that I kinda like. I did come to some conclusions very quickly that the characters seemingly didn't want to believe or were too dumb to, and I didn't love that. Also I think there could've been more focus on the magical/supernatural part of things.

I did learn some Scottish slang along the way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Bullying

Moderate: Violence and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia

emilyvictoria98's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed this book while reading it and I did find myself itching to turn the page and find out what happens next especially as we get further into the book but the more I thought about it afterwards, the more I discovered some unanswered questions which did diminish my enjoyment of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism

talislibrary's review

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Set in Scotland, this book follows 10-year-old Lauren as she and her dad try to live their life with the disappearance of her mother 10 years prior still looming over them. A mix of paranormal and domestic thriller, Pine blends all its elements well, approaching the horror of the storyline from a 10-year-olds perspective.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Murder

nakutski's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

A well spooky story with a tender heart that slowly develops into a thriller. A 4/5 because the start was a bit slow and the story needed some time to get into the swing of things. Excellent audiobook narrator.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Bullying, Blood, Animal death, and Alcoholism

sheryl_macca's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Pine is a modern ghost story which begins on Halloween night and is set in a rural, atmospheric village in Scotland.

I'm not sure that it is actually YA but since the protagonist is an 11 year old girl it reads that way.

The plot is suspenseful and tense. It slowly builds to the resolution of the mystery which we know is coming. The end wasn't shocking, it wasn't as emotional as expected and it was wrapped up a little too quickly but I did enjoy this book.

Something about Lauren and her father Niall really resonated with me. I felt protective of Lauren, I empathised with her. Niall is essentially a good man but he is lost and lonely and his daughter Lauren isn't the priority she should be. I couldn't dislike Niall for it though. The writing of his character was really wonderful.

Atmospheric is definitely the word for Pine. This book is a mood. It's not groundbreaking but read at the right time it's perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, and Murder