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siobhanward's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Child abuse, Rape, and Infidelity
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy
catrionaturnerbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcoholism, Grief, and Pregnancy
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
2.5
"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.
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
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
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.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Murder and Pregnancy
Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
someryarns's review against another edition
- 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
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
kaseymkelley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Everyone at The Shore is not who they seem. What starts out as a traditional New Years Day swim in Cym Coed quickly turned into a nightmare when a dead body is floating in the water. Everyone has a reason to hate Rhys Lloyd, and no one is innocent.
I enjoyed this book overall! I thought it was a great mystery and had me unsure of who was responsible until the very last moment of the book. I feel like some of the story was a little too drawn out, so that’s my reason for 4 stars. Enjoyed otherwise!
Moderate: Rape, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy
sharon_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Murder, Homophobia, and Rape
Minor: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Bullying
savvyrosereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Murder, Sexism, and Death
kimveach's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Classism, Self harm, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Medical content, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, and Rape
Minor: Child abuse
raen99's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Classism, Death, Infidelity, Murder, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Bullying and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Dementia, Drug use, and Vomit