Reviews tagging 'Violence'

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

43 reviews

ramreadsagain's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

A solid thriller, manages to bring something fresh to the genre, and not feel “tropey”. I also liked how the violence towards women was never a main part of the book, unlike with some thrillers that often have a lot of gory detail. 

Great twists and a good page turner. Definitely recommend for fans of the genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Gun violence, Suicide, and Vomit

cbirv's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

I'm not gonna lie this book was pretty slow for me. Meaning it just lacked the fast paced nature that I'm used to with thrillers. I almost put it down due to the lack of shock value. It felt just a slight bit boring, but I continued because I was determined and I loved Millicent as a character. And I'm glad I continued because although I thought the big twist was obvious but it's always nice to know the how. And my goodness Samantha did NOT disappoint on HOW. Everything was great. And it all tied in together. The events after the big twist were so satisfying that it saved the book for me. I was originally gonna give it 3.5/5, but I really loved how Samantha tied things together. Overall the story was great. It was entertaining too don't get me wrong I just value mini twists in my thrillers if that makes sense. I'd still recommend this book though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Vomit and Medical content

jaydub0221's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

nkg202's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

madluck's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

Lost half a star because it was slow going for my liking and because I was spoiled by

the review on the front cover: “dexter meets gone girl”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

katiea714'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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Vomit and Alcohol

jsingh's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

It's an interesting read. It's definitely not the worst thriller I ever read, but it's pretty predictable. I think Downing has talent, but I feel like this book was pretty lukewarm. Again, not badly written, but a little predictable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

rainstormdragon's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Gaslighting

ireadinbed's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

So I saw 99.9% of the big twists coming a mile away. Which isn't what I like in a thriller tbh. I like to figure it out slowly. 

Literally one line was all I didn't predict. 

That said I enjoyed watching it slowly dawn on the extremely ridiculous main character that he had made big mistakes and was in serious danger. It felt like every chapter past a certain point was just another nail in the coffin. Fun to unravel. 

 
He was really unlikable and not in a fun way so I didn't exactly feel bad for him, even if I couldn't root for this particular woman's wrongs. 

His wife wasn't even really a person. She was a weird obvious murderer. Such a minimal personality beyond control freak. And I like control freaks! 

That said he felt unbelievably dense. 

Overall was hooked in and didn't want to stop reading but also just felt really disappointed in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Torture