Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

111 reviews

thelassinlinen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

jupiter_01's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

It took me some time to get into the book, but I'm glad I stuck with it! I was always eager to read on, especially with each new tidbit.

I liked the characters and their complicated, interwoven feelings for one another. In my opinion, the romantic connections were given more development than in Sun Down Motel, which enhanced Book of Cold Cases. I was very surprised that Beth didn't nab

her detective!

The one thing that bothered me was how often the female murderer/s were described as 'sexy.' I love a foxy, morally-gray woman, but it doesn't need to be a constant reminder. Otherwise, a good, intriguing read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Rape, Child abuse, and Car accident

ravenpuff's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Death, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Kidnapping, Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Stalking, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, and Misogyny

alisiakae's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Murder, and Addiction

Minor: Car accident

blouviere4's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Car accident, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Murder, Grief, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Cursing, Death, Alcoholism, and Blood

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, and Sexual violence

shaunashares's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Suicide

kylieqrada's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.5

2.5 ⭐️s. I liked this, it was creepy, and the premise was really strong. But the mental health representation was not ittttttt, my dudes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Minor: Rape, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

honeywine's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book pulled me in quickly and I enjoyed my time reading it. The mystery felt solved about 3/4 of the way through, however, and the final quarter of the book was more of a long, drawn out afterword. 

There are ghosts, which I love, and the main character is likable and relatable. I’d recommend this book to people who like darker stories and paranormal sprinklings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Bullying, Stalking, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Confinement, Child death, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Pedophilia, Torture, and Car accident

elysedc's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Gore, Blood, Death, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

art_books_chemistry's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

My first gut instinct when finishing this book was that I liked it. After thinking about it more and ripping through it in my bookclub I have decided to lower my rating from a 4 to a 3. 

First off this book is classified as a mystery as well as horror or paranormal. Although there is some of the latter (no horror in my opinion), it is used as a device in certain spots to further the plot in such ways that would be unnecessary if the sequence of events was simply thought about a bit more. This book would have been much more suspenseful and mysterious if the paranormal bits were more vague. Some people will laugh but some of the paranormal instances in the book don't fit in with the typical standards for such things making it feel forced. 

There were a variety of other details that felt forced, as if the author was trying to meet a page count and didn't have enough ideas left to develop the plot further. I love the cat, but it's storyline was thrown in as if we needed to see that Shea's life is perfectly-normal-thank-you-very-much-look-she-has-a-cat. However, Shea has an incredibly rich back story that could be delved into a lot more. We barely scratch the surface of her trauma, instead focusing on her fear of cars. Maybe a psychologist would disagree but it felt very flat and unrealistic. And I don't mean in the sense that someone can't have a pathological fear of cars or strange ways of dealing with trauma; I mean the way she acted and reacted in the book felt like how someone without trauma thinks people with trauma are. 

I liked the base storyline and thought the mystery components were well thought out. Some of the characters were likeable. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this to anyone. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, and Drug abuse

Minor: Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Terminal illness