Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

88 reviews

regen20's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

What a page turning book! I was genuinely creeped out at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Drug use

beckyremillard's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

Shea is a true crime blogger who happens to run into acquitted murder, Beth Greer. Beth was accused of murdering two men in 1977 and agrees to give Shea the first interview she’s ever done.  Shea finds out there is a lot more to Beth’s story than she ever expected. 

The majority of the story is told from Shea’s perspective in 2017 and Beth’s perspective in 1977, although part two contains chapters from Beth’s point of view before and after 1977. 

I really enjoyed the first part of the book. However, part 2 didn’t hold my attention as much. There were chapters that were interesting but I didn’t feel part 2 was as good as part 1. 

In addition, I read The Sun Down Motel by the same author right before this and I didn’t feel this book quite held up to that one. 

I’m also curious why both books have the modern point of view in 2017 when the books were published years after that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Murder, Mental illness, and Gun violence

ekmook's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Gun violence, Death of parent, Death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Car accident, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

prrttyodd's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy

eed8's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Terminal illness, Murder, Violence, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Blood, and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

alyssagirardi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Infertility, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Torture, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, and Violence

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

The audiobook narration was really good for this one, so if you're going to read it, I'd recommend going that route. I found the story itself just okay, and though it did entertain me and I wanted to know what happened, nothing was really memorable or remarkable.

The mystery was intriguing, but it didn't really pan out in a way that made sense to me. The main character was bland and her actions were, again, nonsensical. The love interest angle really didn't add anything to the story; it could have been a decent red flag but he was just kinda faded in the background.

I liked the flashbacks to Beth's life, but the twist and ultimate reveal felt like a catfish to me.

I don't like that the answer to the mystery was a ghost; I'm not a fan of ghost stories and I wanted a more realistic/substantial answer. But maybe that was on me for not expecting it to actually be a ghost!

The whole ending felt rushed to me, and then it was just done. I was left with a "That's it?" feeling and still not caring about these characters.

I will say if you enjoy ghost stories, you may like this more than I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

It was good, I was definitely interested in seeing how it ended, but had hoped for a more realistic mystery setting. The dual perspectives and multiple timelines was written really well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping and Alcoholism

Minor: Grief

odrib's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcoholism, and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Grief, Bullying, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Sexism, and Car accident

danileah07's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Gun violence