Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Mooie meisjes by Karin Slaughter

81 reviews

lacemac's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

Absolutely incredible from start to finish. 

I sobbed, I gasped, I cringed and I squirmed. 

The most gripping book I have ever read. 

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aroddy22's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5


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ernareads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’ve somewhat low expectations for this book. It was one of those books going around on booktok, and I’ve been disappointed a couple of times by some of the recommendations. Anyway, it obviously blew my mind, I would say it is one of my favorite books of this year? First of all, it was pretty graphic in the middle. Do read the trigger warnings before diving in. I've tried my best to identify the right triggers... so do check.

The characters are well written, well for me at least. The manipulations at play were really well written. The way Paul isolated Claire away from her family members. The way Paul was always in control at every step. Domestic abuse is usually tied to physical abuse. However here we can see that despite Claire being ‘well treated’ by her husband, she was indeed in a domestic abuse relationship. She wasn’t abused physically, she was abused psychologically and emotionally.

Also, we can also see how it affects the victim’s family members. The aftermath of the case, the devastation, the breakdown of relationships. One of the parents became obsessed with the case, the other one tried to ‘move on’. People grieve differently, and marriages break because of that. Sam was obsessed with his daughter’s disappearance, Helen on the other hand, still grieving for her, but had to move ahead in order to take care of her other living daughters: Lydia and Claire.

Probably 50% into the books, it got too graphic. I just skimmed through it, but it was rather interesting how Paul was also involved in abusing the victims. I wonder how he got involved. How did he first start committing these gruesome crimes? Did his father introduce him to these crimes? I will probably read this book again to better understand Paul’s involvement. The history between Paul and his father was briefly mentioned, and I really think it would be great to further elaborate their relationship. As for Paul’s mother, she was innocent. She was in fact looking for Julia during one of the searches for Julia’s disappearance. [Paul’s father was a psychopath and obviously a sadistic person. Was Paul being introduced to these violents and became like his father, or was he born a psychopath?]

As the chapters come to an end, we can see how Claire managed to piece the puzzles together. Claire was written as a frail woman, someone who depended on others. In order to uncover the truth, she had to go out of her comfort zone and dig into her husband’s private life. For once in her life, she had to think for herself, and she had to take action on her own. For a while, all these decisions are made for her by her husband. Another red flag in her marriage.


In conclusion, the book was well written: the plot, the twists at the end, and the characters.

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bellagee's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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ltulisiak's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

3.0


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ellilo's review against another edition

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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

I read this book because it was listed in some “most disturbing books” videos. 
I hate saying i enjoyed this because it’s not a nice topic to enjoy, but i just love dark and disgusting thriller and horror books. This book had me in a chokehold the past four days, and i barely find time to read so that’s always a good thing about a book for me, fast-paced and packed with adventure so i don’t want to stop reading.

Some of the turns in the story were weird and from the beginning you already know that the guy is bad, but you don’t know about the extent of the cruelty. That was weird for me because i’m used to not knowing who the killer is, in this book it was rather the question who you can trust and what’s the truth. 

The ending made me cry, but i have to be honest and i feel really  weird saying this: 
I heard this book was SO disgusting and graphic, and of course, there were some scenes that made me a bit uncomfortable but i’ve read worse. I don’t think that it’s the description that makes it disgusting, but rather the topic. 

I still enjoyed this book! It wasn’t as cruel as i thought it would be and at the same time it was worse. But in a good way. 


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uhhlexiconic's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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

Seemingly padded for length by flipping between the two sisters, only one of which propels the plot forward, Pretty Girls is an otherwise harrowing thriller about an inability to let go of the past and how little we know the people we love.

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mukunamatata's review against another edition

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

4.0

A bit too gruesome for me and a lot of different details to keep track of. That being said, it was captivating and got right into it with new additions being included each page, which built up into a really good story. Obvi the privileged white woman nonsense about feminism annoy me
(and the fact that claire goes out with Nolan, a grade A asshole who was torturing her after the death of her husband.
only a ✋🏻woman would think of that to be an even semi decent addition to the novel.) but I still ate it up so Ms. slaughter will get another read out of me. Interesting and sad. The gore went far however, I do not believe it added enough to the book to be so pivotal during almost every page. I did enjoy this read and I’m better for it 

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kearac's review against another edition

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2.25


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baileymorrison's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.0


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