Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Mooie meisjes by Karin Slaughter

475 reviews

emstermeegs's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

2.0

I have read two other books by this author that I found super suspenseful and page turning. This one had suspense, but it was also terribly graphic, reduntantly so. The graphic descriptions of the torture/abuse that frequent this book just made it impossible for me to say I enjoyed it. 

It made me uncomfortable, which I am sure is the point, but I think there was a way to balance this better so that the reader would not feel gross for even reading it. It wasn't fun to read, which is what I look for in a thriller. 

The rest of the book was either slow (some parts were boring, just dragged), predictable, or unplausable. 

I won't say the writing is awful, so that saves this from being a 1 star. The frequency and description of the violence is gratuitous. The plot and ending is a bit far-fetched as well, but that has nothing on the yuck that is this book. I wish it'd never been recommended to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

eerieehobbit's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident

melmandu's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Trafficking, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Infidelity

story_of_steph'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

Pretty Girls is one hell of a thriller! Right from the start, I was completely hooked by the mystery of Julia Carroll’s disappearance. Karin Slaughter really knows how to create characters that feel real and flawed. Claire and Lydia’s rocky relationship and their journey to reconnect was both emotional and gripping.

The twists and turns in this book are masterfully done. The way she blends past and present is masterful, keeping you guessing all the way through. The book’s dark and gritty vibe definitely adds to the suspense. 

The only downside for me was that some parts felt a bit drawn out. There were moments when the story slowed down too much, with a few scenes feeling overly detailed. It kind of interrupted the flow at times. But honestly, the compelling characters and the intense plot more than made up for it.

All in all, this is a fantastic read for anyone who loves dark thrillers. A warning though that it deals with some pretty dark subject matter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

kaylyx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Suicide, Vomit, and Gaslighting

Minor: Fatphobia, Cannibalism, and Classism

isabelsp's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

lampbee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I can’t tell if i loved or hated this book. It’s very violent in its depictions, at some point it felt needless or even voyeuristic? I didn’t like that element of it especially given the whole plot of the book. The premise I feel was solid and I liked the execution it was just a lot more grim with a lot less payoff than I expected. However I liked the development and the twists not being predictable/trite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

The description of Lydia getting

waterboarded with paul’s piss

was a bit intense to the point of me not being sure what the purpose was. Obviously to show

that Paul is evil/irredeemable and is willing to sexually abuse Claire’s sister

but it felt gratuitous. The same I feel could be said for the description of the photos

I understand that gore was required to get their heinous crimes across but the description of the mutilated and cleaved girl hanging from barn rafters while blood-soaked and fully erect men posed for a photo was a lot to take in and I wonder how much detail was required to get the point across

. Maybe I just prefer for rape culture to be referenced or described on a more nuanced level and something of this level wasn’t going to hit — but at very least there can be no debate over whether the crime was “all that bad”. I will say though, I’m probably not the only one, by the end of the book

I was hoping Paul would have to endure some of the torture he doled out. He kept Julia alive for two weeks, I would’ve liked to see him have to endure something of that caliber not a strained but quick death in a forest.

I’m very uninterested in women not stooping to their attackers level , they need to get even, idc.

alexisroyce's review against another edition

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

madsreadsbooks17's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Stalking, and Death of parent

adub345's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

0.25

I hated this so much. 

I committed to reading this for a book club and it wasy first buddy read otherwise I would have DNF'd it multiple times. 

The plot was not only twisty but also twisted. There was no need for the amount of descriptive scenes of torture porn throughout the book. 

My list of trigger warnings for this is about as long as each chapter in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail