Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

15 reviews

taelorfiller's review

dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Child abuse

Minor: Vomit

andipants124's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

I was in the mood for a good mystery and this really delivered. Really enjoyed the detective characters and the changing POVs. Also loved that evidence was revealed slowly and that the murderer made total sense - but I didn’t guess who it was. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Child abuse

siobhanward's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

This book took a really long time to pick up and the ending didn't make up for the slog that was the first 75%. The plot was solid in premise, but just wasn't executed well. Too much was going on, there were too many characters and time jumps and I found that information was revealed and I had no idea why it was relevant because things were so convoluted. Ffion was a solid character (although like many books in this genre, she is way too close to the action and should definitely not be on the case), but her story got muddled with so many others' that it was hard to care about anyone. Unfortunately, despite liking Ffion, I can't say I'll be rushing to read any other books in this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Child abuse, Rape, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy

caprichosbooks's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

This book has everything. Excellent mystery that just keeps turning, adventure, and even a little romance. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Blood, Alcoholism, Murder, and Rape

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

2.5

 Finished reading: July 30th 2023

"One missing man. One body in the lake. We hardly need Miss Marple, do we?"

It's true that I've had mixed reactions to Clare Mackintosh's writing so far, but I absolutely loved my time with Hostage and I was hoping for a repeat experience with The Last Party. I was intrigued by the premise with the party, the lake setting and a murder mystery... And I fully expected to have a great time reading this first book of a new series. Unfortunately I ended up struggling considerably instead. I still like the premise and the setting is without doubt very well described. This story had so much potential, but in the end it just all fell flat for me. What didn't work then? First of all, The Last Party was both way too slow for me and also way overlong. This story could have been easily at least 100 pages shorter, and the plot would have been a lot tigher this way. As it is, there are way too many different characters/POVs and way too many descriptions along the way, and this made the story drag considerably. Add the fact that every single character is unlikeable and only becomes worse once you get to know them better, and I honestly couldn't care less what happened to any of them. The whole mystery around who killed Rhys didn't seem present at all; instead the focus was on just how many characters were hiding something. It was just overkill; so many characters cheating on each other, so many horrible secrets, so many 'revelations' stacked up that you just become immune to them all. This is without doubt my least favorite Clare Mackintosh book so far, and I will definitely not be continuing this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racism, Gaslighting, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia

whimsicalish's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was a pleasant surprise. I judged it by the cover and expected a eye-roller. I did like the two main characters; they felt more human than other detectives in novels I have read. More vulnerable and able to work out their shit. There was a large cast, some better written than others. It can be confusing keeping track of everyone at first.

Generally, the heavy topics in the twists are taken with care. There's discussion instead of horrid things  being shock value. The book does drag out the ending to give you twist after twist.

It seems like this will be a series. I'm not completely opposed to reading the next book. It's a maybe for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Murder and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

kmpuzzled's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying and Rape

Minor: Child abuse and Infidelity

someryarns's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Racism, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Rape, Child abuse, Classism, Sexual content, and Drug use

martamae77's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Death

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Sexual violence

tabby2920's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

Another heart pumping mystery from Mackintosh! You will be surprised at every corner when you read about the a New Year's party that goes horribly wrong. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Minor: Misogyny