Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell

10 reviews

tayrod4594'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The characters in this book, despite some rather impressive character writing, ultimately feel more like two-dimensional soap opera stereotypes than actual people. Aside from the love they have for the children - expressed not at all in the ways they choose to mess up their lives, but still evident in other ways - not one of these people has a single redeeming quality. At times it felt like unintentional satire, but it did keep me engaged - all the way to the last page when I struggled to resist the urge to throw the book out the window. All I can say is that if you come to the book because you liked the movie, you're better off just watching the movie again. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Incest, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Drug use, Addiction, Misogyny, Murder, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Car accident, Death, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

taylorambl18's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Incest, Toxic friendship, and Death

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Infidelity and Drug use

coco78337's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

Very middle of the road book. Didn’t really care about the characters or the twists. But a good “get your mind off things” book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Dementia, Gaslighting, Incest, Suicide, Abandonment, Car accident, Grief, Infertility, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

baileyjanetee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Death, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Murder

katie_lucht's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Grief

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death

kelly_e's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

Title: A Simple Favor
Author: Darcey Bell
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 1.5
Pub Date: August 28, 2018

T H R E E • W O R D S

Twisty • Disappointing • Superficial

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Emily and Stephanie are best friends. A Simple Favor kicks off when Emily asks Stephanie for a simple favour... pick up her son from school. But then, Emily disappears and no one know where she's gone. Of course, Stephanie knows something must be terribly wrong.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I'll start out by saying that I absolutely loved the concept of including blog style writing with a dual perspective narrative, as it allowed to contrast social media with real life. Unfortunately, the execution was poor and the good ended with that concept.

Yes, the story started out quite creepy, but it ended up being so unbelievable and corny that it was comical. The characters are all so unlikeable and unrelatable. The voice felt childish and not at all how adults would converse with one another. And to make matters worse the plot was so slow at times, that I'm not sure how I even ended up finishing.

I haven't seen the movie, but can definitely understand why people say this is the rare case where the movie is better. Do yourself a favour and skip this one. There are definitely thrillers out there focusing on female friendship and domestic drama that are more worth your time.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• no one

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"But if there were some version of luminol, the stuff they use to find blood at crime scenes, to detect the presence of grief, half the people we pass on the street would light up like Christmas trees." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Incest, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Murder, Suicide, and Grief

death of partner

klubbgodis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Drug use, Grief, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

adb_95's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Murder, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Grief, Death, and Dementia

nodogsonthemoon's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, and Suicide

bibliocharylodis's review

dark medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship