Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Bloodline

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

staceofbase13's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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

4.0

⚠️ CW: violence, racism, sexism, classism, kidnapping, rape, incest and brief mentions of cancer and parental death ⚠️ If you liked The Stepford Wives and enjoy dark and thrilling storylines then this one is for you! In a tale inspired by real events, pregnant journalist Joan Harken is cautiously excited to follow her fiancé back to his Minnesota hometown. After spending a childhood on the move and chasing the screams and swirls of news-rich city life, she’s eager to settle down. Lilydale’s motto - “Come Home Forever” - couldn’t be more inviting. And yet something is off in the picture-perfect village. The friendliness borders on intrusive. Joan can’t shake the feeling that every move she makes is being tracked. An archaic organization still seems to hold the town in thrall. So does the sinister secret of a little boy who vanished decades ago. And unless Joan is imagining things, a frighteningly familiar figure from her past is on watch in the shadows. Her fiancé tells her she’s being paranoid. He might be right. Then again, she might have moved to the deadliest small town on earth. This book was so good, and makes you feel uncomfortable from the very beginning as if at any second everything will fall apart and just when you think you've figured it out it hits you with another mind blowing twist. It's difficult to review without giving spoilers but it's one of those reads that really gets in your head. Overall, I highly recommend this book.

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gelsey's review

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challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

R E V I E W

Bloodline by Jess Lourey

S U M M A R Y

After being passed over for promotion, being mugged and injured, and a surprise pregnancy, Joan Harkin thinks it's an easy decision to follow her fiance Dec back to his small hometown to create a life together. It immediately becomes apparent, however, that Lilydale's perfect facade covers something more sinister than Joan could ever have guessed.

W A R N I N G S

Kidnapping, murder, incest, cult vibes

C H A R A C T E R S

I have mixed feelings about the characters in this. I feel like they by and large require a certain amount of suspension of belief in order to enjoy fully. I can do this but I know a lot of people have issues, and even I raised my eyebrows a bit at a few things that happened. Joan is mostly a good character, but I really disliked the trope of pregnancy making her wonder if she's going crazy. I feel like it's a very overused trope and yeah.

P L O T

Again a bit with suspension of belief, but this was more fun than the character part. I love a good sinister plot with broad reaching implications. It ended up giving me major cultish vibes, which I did not expect! Especially since I read two cult type thrillers earlier this month.

N A R R A T I O N

Whitney Dykhouse did a really good job, especially with squeezing emotion into her voice.

O V E R A L L

A good, suspenseful thriller that I couldn't really have predicted. Definitely not predictable on thr whole, and I recommend if you don't mind suspending your belief.

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