Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

84 reviews

sabrinagisele's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Murder, Death, Child death, and Confinement

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Yeah, no. I'm a little disappointed, although it wasn't that different from the previous books. But it still managed to show me even less of the things I was interested in. First of all, the first half was SO boring. Nothing happened at all. And although this was also the case in the first two books, there were still interactions between the characters that I liked. There weren't even many of those here. What frustrated me the most was the way Stevie "investigated". The "clues" didn't make ANY sense and lead to nothing. And she didn't do anything? Simply stumbled upon some random things by accident, didn't really explore them, and in the end she just told everyone what had happened? 

I would have probably accepted it if I actually liked the revelations. But they were ... boring as well. I think there just wasn't enough material for a trilogy here and to stretch it like this didn't help. 

For some reason, I still enjoyed the interactions between Stevie and David. Apparently, I like to torture myself. And my favorite parts of the book were actually the flashbacks to the past. Those surprised me more than the rest trilogy.

I will probably still read the fourth book, maybe a change of scenery will help... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

roncanread's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, and Drug use

Minor: Bullying

nicnels's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Toxic relationship

grimviolins's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

coolbeancat's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

isagomezs04's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Death

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Kidnapping

Minor: Mental illness, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

genny's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• 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? No

3.75

Fun conclusion to the trilogy. Even though the culprit of the 1936 mystery was revealed in the last book, there were still many questions left and I enjoyed how the answers were revealed here. Leo Nair might just be my favorite side character. I've had a suspicion about the present-day culprit since the second book but dismissed it as unlikely, yet it turns out I was right! Point for me, whoo. Still, I was hoping for a bit more...I don't know, thrill? It felt a little anticlimactic. Stevie's style of revealing the culprit would've been corny, but she was so meta about it that it wasn't. 😆 Some of her conclusions felt earned, while others didn't (particularly her understanding of the 1936 mystery, which she suddenly info-dumps at the end).

David, though. David. He was incredibly annoying. I'm sorry, I get it, he's a teenager with personal issues, but I just cannot stand his "romance" with Stevie. Even the two of them couldn't explain why their relationship existed in the first place, haha. I dreaded their interactions. They never even addressed their problems

, they just got back together because of the emotional intensity of their situation. Poof, just like that, all the arguments they spat at each other were forgotten

. Cue plenty of eye rolls.

I still really enjoyed this and would be happy to read the next book. A fresh new mystery for Stevie sounds great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping

Minor: Drug use

kb_sherman's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

abeaninapod's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Okay so I love this series! I love the characters, the plot is so rich and everytime I think that it's the end it turns out it isn't. And we finally got to uncover so much about the mysteries of book one and two. But it was a little anticlimactic.... I don't know if it will pick back up in the next book. But this one lacked some of the umph that the others before had. Don't get me wrong my butt was clenched just as tightly (but I'm a scaredy cat) so all that sneaking around in the dark and the murders... yeah not good for bedtime reading. And guess when I do 95% of my reading! 

I felt like the relationships were kinda flung together too. But I also understand that they went through a lot together and that brings people closer or at least makes them more curious about each other so I'll allow it. 

Anyway. This is not a light read. But it's a great read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Suicide

Mentions and describes anxiety and panic attacks in detail.