Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Keep It In The Family by John Marrs

13 reviews

hellandhogwarts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Emotional abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Pregnancy, Grief, Alcoholism, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying

killmoore_'s review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a solid read by a solid author - freakin love John. 

Knocked off a few points because I was sorely disappointed to have figured out the big twist early on, but it didn't take away from the roller coaster ride of reveals that lies within the pages. There was not a single likeable character in this entire book, and I loved it. 

Hashtag justice for george.

Heavy content matter. Read your trigger warnings if that's your thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Car accident, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Body horror, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Violence, Miscarriage, Stalking, Terminal illness, Torture, Abandonment, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

briky1993's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

5.0

What a WILD ride! Definitely recommend if you love thrillers! One thing happens and you think surely nothing else crazy can…. BOOM… then something else crazy happens! Twisted, dark, psychological rollercoaster. My first John Marrs book, but definitely won’t be my last!! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, Child death, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

nialiversuch's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Addiction, Gore, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Vomit

Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Infertility

sarah_amy's review

dark lighthearted tense medium-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

1.75

I struggle with books where I hate the characters...and I pretty much hated everyone in this book lol. Enough twists and turns to keep me interested, but definitely not my favourite or most thrilling John Marrs book I've read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Child abuse, Murder, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Blood, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Gaslighting, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Confinement, Grief, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Infertility

Minor: Confinement, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, and Self harm

mtstjk's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

I could’ve given this book a higher rating but I docked some points for the fact it was more difficult to read than it should’ve been.

Now I don’t mind dual/multi POVs or timeline jumps. But the combination of these two when I had no idea who the POV was in the timeline jumps was stressful and made it VERY hard to follow the plot or even want to keep reading. I would have absolutely stopped reading it if I was the type to, fortunately (or unfortunately for myself) I am not. 

Otherwise, the book was good. I hated that ^ aspect of it but also enjoyed the twists - which I certainly couldn’t see coming considering the way it was written lol. So my feelings are conflicted. 

3.75 rounded up I am sticking with for now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Minor: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Infertility, Blood, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Infidelity, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Cancer, and Drug abuse

hfontenot4's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

This was my first John Marrs book. I really enjoyed the character development. This book had so many wild moments. After a few chapters I thought bad of the parents, but didn’t realize how psychotic they were. I kinda saw this ending coming, but it was taken a little further than I had thought. The twists after twists had me wanting me. It only took me 2 weeks to read because of an increase of my work load. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Blood, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Cursing, Suicide, and Stalking

aleen_elizabeth's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Bullying, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Addiction, Torture, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Terminal illness

melle_reads's review

dark mysterious sad 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

3.75

As the narrative is first-person and is shared between the main cast of characters, the characters themselves will heavily affect whether you will like this book. I found that their flaws and conflicts with each other were all rather surface-level rather than developed and realistic, which turned me off to liking them or finding them very compelling. There wasn’t any substantial groundwork laid for the final “twist” at the very end either, so to me it felt like a disappointing cop-out more than a proper shock. The twists and turns that led to the climax and third act were exciting though, and did keep me reading. It was only $2 for Kindle so all in all it was worth my time! 3.75 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Child death, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Child abuse

Moderate: Torture, Blood, Cancer, Pregnancy, and Chronic illness

Minor: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

The main female character and her husband’s marital struggles are central to the book from start to finish. The main conflict is their difficulty with conceiving, and then after

they have their miracle baby,

the wife

experiences post-partum depression and difficulty

madelinequinne's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Car accident, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Suicide, Cancer, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Alcohol, Infertility, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship