Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

دوشیزگان by Alex Michaelides

151 reviews

emmyreedsbooks's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death

Moderate: Death

crosberg's review against another edition

2.0

dark sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Another disappointing thriller/mystery. The book is only 330 pages and there's only one core mystery with several murders and acts of violence so I don't know how the author managed to make it feel slow, but he did. Without spoilers or going too much into detail, the overwhelming feeling of this book is that the author really doesn't like women, and his male characters are showing exactly how. The main character was a female therapist, and she did have a few female colleagues/mentors to rely on, plus all of the victims were female. But somehow the only people who had any personality were all men and most of them treated the women in their lives callously at best, abusively at worst. Gaslighting and "there, there dear let the men handle it" patronizing is rampant with all but one of the male characters, who the main character seems to fall in love with after he's simply kind to her for about 30 seconds. I was so distracted by the absolutely flat, passive women and the terrible, violent men that I became utterly disinterested in the actual mystery. What's worse is that the author treats sexual assault, child abuse, and trauma with a casualness that made my skin crawl. Forget the actual murderer, I'd be uncomfortable interacting with the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

earutherford's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Excellent murder mystery with a twist I didn't see coming. Good strings throughout which hint at it but really show the psychological impact of our families to the characters. I enjoyed the tie into Greek mythology

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

mariasilva's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder

aideen_'s review against another edition

2.5

dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse

doric's review against another edition

2.75

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Blood, Murder

anisyrah's review against another edition

2.75

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Stalking, Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Gaslighting, Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent

laura9955's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty

kazik's review against another edition

2.0

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent

josna's review against another edition

2.5

dark 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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking