Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

30 reviews

this_is_lee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I am absolutely in love with this series. I find it to be so well done, easy to read and engaging. I fell for every character and adore the world that was created. 
This became my favourite trilogy quite quickly!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting

themoodreader's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Emotional abuse

Minor: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Blood, Cursing, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

abbypeekreads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Once again Jennifer Lynn Barnes delivers a fast-paced and engaging novel centered around Avery and the mysteries of the Hawthorne family. Even so, I find I'm having a hard time deciding how to approach this review. I will admit I struggled to keep all of the connections straight in my head since it's been a while since I've read the first two books, but even without taking that into consideration I wasn't as excited about this one as I was The Hawthorne Legacy.

But that doesn't make it a bad book at all. As the final installment in the series, it had everything I wanted: the usual intriguing puzzles with high stakes, satisfying character arcs, and answers to the questions still looming overhead. Barnes gave us all of it, raising the stakes as high as ever for Avery, which pushed her into owning the puzzles and her decisions in the best way. 

Her relationships with each of the boys (specifically Jameson and Grayson) came into even better focus, so much so that I felt like I finally understood where Avery stood with each of them. While some of the development there felt rushed, I still felt it was enough to keep me satisfied with her choices.

As for the ending, while I enjoyed it, it just felt like a lot. With the introduction of a new villain for the book, there were a lot of loose ends to tie up. I think Barnes did well with it, but again sometimes I got super confused with how everything connected. Some plot lines could've been fleshed out a bit more, but the ending still made sense and felt appropriate for the story.

Overall, this book (and the series) was such a fun and wild ride, full of twists and turns that always kept me on my toes. As my first dip into the mystery genre, I had a lot of fun with the change of pace from my usual reads. It definitely makes me want to read more from the genre in the future! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Sexism

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and this series as a whole! It’s cheesy and ridiculous in the best of ways.

Short chapters lend to a quick-paced plot, which makes for easy reading. I couldn’t put it down. I love all the puzzles and secrets upon secrets, and this surprisingly had a very satisfying conclusion! I was worried that it would feel like the author didn’t know where she was going when she started, but it didn’t feel like that at all. I thought it was very well done.

These books are plot-focused, but the characters are pretty wonderful. Avery still got some nice development in this one, even with the fast pace. And I love any time I can spend with the Hawthorne brothers. (I would loooove for there to be a book about Grayson in the future please 🙏🏼)

Anyways, can’t recommend this series enough, especially if you need something more light-hearted and fun!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Death of parent

ttumbletree's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Sexism, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.0

It's a good ending to this trilogy! Lots of twists and turns, and of course, everyone's favorite riddles. I just think it could have done without all the love triangle-ness. I mean, I kinda figured it was coming, but there was just too much of it in this book. 

Barnes did keep me on my feet, though! She introduces some new players in this book, but it doesn't feel like it's too much. It helps to keep the plot going, as do the short chapters. You know she loves to end those on a cliffhanger so you'll want to immediately read the next one. As one does. 

All in all, if you're looking for a fast-paced mystery full of riddles and games, you'll love this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Violence, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

edlenem's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Pregnancy, Torture, and Child death

merah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

One of the best series I've read in my life. Incredible. 
I'm so so unbelievably sad it's over. I can't even. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Gun violence, and Torture

Minor: Cursing, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence

kitabe_bohot_si's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
I LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexism

honkmoon's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A really brilliant finale to the series. This book made me so emotional, which considering I barely cried for Archers Voice, is saying something. Such a good read, my favorite in the series for sure. We see the characters all in a different light in the end, so much development. Jennifer must be a genius to have this all plotted out, all of the foreshadowing from the beginning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Domestic abuse

For Adult Minor Relationship and Domestic Abuse

16 year old was groomed by man in twenties, became pregnant. He tried to choke her to death. Beginning of chapter 62. Most of chapter 63, 65, and 73

For SA

Moderately mentioned. Talks about a past occurence briefly, non consensual kissing, but the scene is blunt and could be deemed graphic. Occurs on page 225 on E-reader. Chapter 55