Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus

13 reviews

babyleo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

stories's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A fast paced ride full of twists and turns as plot evolves and escalates. An unlikely trio of teens are left piecing together the facts while all the adults lie through their teeth. Plenty of incorrect theories abound. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Infertility, and Stalking

calamitywindpetal's review against another edition

mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual harassment

styxx's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Abandonment

mahi_nad's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense

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

3.5

3.5 stars

“Things'll get worse before they get better.”
That's a quote from One of Us is Lying, and oh boy, is it true.

REVIEW:
Going into Such Charming Liars, I wasn’t expecting too much, especially after my experience with One of Us is Lying. But this book really surprised me. While I anticipated some of the twists, a few of them caught me so off guard that I had to put the book down just to process what happened. Even though I saw some of the reveals coming, others hit with enough force to make the story feel gripping and unexpected. And the characters' trauma? Dang, that hit hard. This book definitely upped my personal view of McManus and her books.
And the characters' trauma? That hit deep. Especially Jamie's. This book definitely elevated my opinion of McManus and her writing.

The only issue I had was the pacing—it was all over the place. It started off slow, then suddenly, BAM, it throws unexpected twists at you. I was also hoping for more from the heist aspect of the book. I wanted a real heist, you know? While it's understandable since it's primarily a murder mystery, I would've loved to see more of those classic heist elements.

BOTTOM LINE:
Fun murder mystery, good plot twists

AGE RATING:
12+

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Blood, and Abandonment

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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

This book feels different from McManus's other books, and I think it might actually be my favorite of hers this far. There are still lots of twists and turns that keep you guessing as you delve into the mystery, and I liked the heist aspect of the story. It was well-developed and made for an interesting plot.

Fans of McManus will definitely enjoy her latest installment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

novelsally's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Well I didn't guess the ending!  I'm not sure if I ended up liking how everything came together but I did like the heist bits.  Some of the reasoning and choice making were questionable, I'm not sure if I'd agree that 16-17 year old's are that inconsistent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Infertility, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol

jillkaarlela's review against another edition

3.75

Karen M McManus is very reliable in writing entertaining YA murder mystery thrillers, and this was no exception. This was not my favorite of hers (my fav remains to be “one of us is lying” ) but it was still solid/good! I predicted one of the twists, but that final act twist was very unexpected!! Overall, I recommend if you are a fan of McManus’ other books! 

Age rating: 14+ (violence, language, no sexual content) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

   This is one of her better ones! I found it less predictable, but I'm sure some people saw the main villain coming, I didn't however. There were enough villains that it was hard to tell who was truly evil and who wasn't. 

   There was a diversity in sexuality, with one bi/pan character, and one gay main character. But no diversity in the race of the characters, who were all white.

    Overall, I found it enjoyable, though a bit darker than the author's other books. The MCs were likable but a lot of the lesser characters weren't. 

Narrator(s) Rating: 4.5 stars

   The narrators did an excellent job. They could have used a bit more vocal differences to characters for a 5-star rating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

The toxic relationships are between Gem and pretty much everyone. As well as Jamie and Kat's dad, whose name I can't remember.

miyataylor_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent