Reviews tagging 'Blood'

When She Returned by Lucinda Berry

8 reviews

midnightrose_reads's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When She Returned by Lucinda Berry is a taut psychological thriller about a woman named Kate, who returns after being missing for 11 years; and who may or may not have been in a cult. Told in alternating timelines and with different POV’s from Kate’s husband Scott, from their daughter together Abby, Scott’s new wife Meredith, and Kate herself in a past timeline. A wild ride!

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo, Lauren Ezzo, and Amy McFadden.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Torture, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Vomit, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Sexual content

shyleek's review

dark emotional 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? No

4.0

Lucinda Berry writes unexpected plot twists with the best of them! I was mad at the wrong person the whole way through this story. 

Abby, the teenage daughter of a missing woman turns out to be a much more complex character than expected. Her character development is perfection. Same for the stepmother, Meredith. 

When Abby's mother returns after going missing 11 years ago they all must adjust to a new normal. The secrets her mother keeps turn out to be more damaging than you might have guessed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Torture, Death, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Trafficking and Pregnancy

snapeygan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Mental illness, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Gaslighting, and Torture

killmoore_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Okay. I almost didn't finish this.. with only 20ish pages left. I was infuriated. Was the book amazing? Yes, and beautifully written despite being absolutely devastating and incredibly frustrating at times. A quick, tense read that I thought I had figured out (and was mad), made me think something amazing was about to happen (I literally hollered), then pissed me off all over again. 

Check your trigger warnings. Be prepared to be livid. Meredith is one of the most despicable fictional characters ever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Confinement, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Child death, Gaslighting, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

yuyuv's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Torture, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, and Confinement

brittanylee0302's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

2.25

This book sounded like a great story but overall it just wasn't good. The beginning was very, very boring & it only got really good in the last 20%. There were a lot of things that didn't link up & the twist was very much predictable. Overall I'd categorize this as a mystery, certainly not a thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Torture, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, Animal death, Self harm, and Confinement

beckyremillard's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Kate went missing over a decade ago. Her keys were left in her car and her husband and young daughter had no clues as to where she went. 

Now, Kate has returned with an infant and very few details on where she had been for the past eleven years. 

This book was fine and held my attention, but there was nothing unpredictable about it. It was interesting that the perspectives included Kate in the past, and the  daughter and the husband’s new wife in the present. 

The cult stuff was interesting but between that and nobody believing Meredith even when she had evidence, I was getting frustrated while reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Self harm

Cult

amyspag's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.5

This book had me gripped but I just couldn't get over that ending

I wanted Merideth to be the character in the wrong. I understood Kates Stockholm syndrome but the ending seemed so far fetched and a better twist would have been Merideth being sinister. Also who posted on the vanished forums about Kate being a dead woman. Those forums were talked about so much and had no significance as all

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, and Self harm

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Sexual assault