Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

You're Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

13 reviews

michaelion's review against another edition

dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.0

If "Now you ain't hear this from me..." was a book. If a telenovela was set in Sri Lanka. I'm sure they have a word for it. As always, rich people are evil. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Stalking, Self harm, Abandonment, Mental illness, Classism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Infidelity, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Outing, Misogyny, Addiction, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Death, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content and Pedophilia

kellylayne's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

I thought this a fun and twisty thriller. Most of the characters felt well developed, though one of the main characters felt a little undercooked to me. Characters were definitely unlikeable, but in a way that was interesting and suited a thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Classism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Pedophilia

astridhawk's review

dark mysterious 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

2.0

Really disappointing. Empty-headed completely unklikeaboe characters, and instead of a mystery it was more of a bait-and-switch by the author. Also, TONS of tw… just don’t expect an enjoyable mystery from this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual content, Self harm, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, Alcohol, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy

Minor: Pedophilia

kerryamchugh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Loved the author's previous novel, but the pacing of this one didn't click for me, and the frame of the story as told in interviews to private detectives didn't ring true and distracted from the character building, even as it was used as a device to explain the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Pedophilia

lowkeymarie's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This was a difficult one to rate. The last 100 or so pages were genuinely really great...but the preceding 300+ pages were a slog. The main character was not poorly written, but it also wasn't an entertaining perspective to read from. Her PoV is broken up by interviews and we do get the PoV of another character eventually, but I think the book would have really benefitted from more perspectives than just Amaya's.

Something else that really irritated me is that allll throughout the damn book, a certain event that happened five years previously is constantly brought up, in a way that keeps it a secret from the reader. Which, if it had been brought up just a couple times, would have been intriguing. But it's referenced so frequently and so cryptically that it just became obnoxious.

Once we get to the third act, things finally start coming together and paying off in a big way, but it was just too little, too late for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Blood, Stalking, and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia

dhutton1997's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

For the first half of this book, I hated every single character especially Amaya. However, by the middle of it, I was hooked. So good and everything is wrapped up by the end and man will it blow your mind! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Violence, Self harm, Stalking, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

mariahkindareads'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy

blackcatkai's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

CW: casual ableism, self-harm (on page), violence, death, blood, gun violence, mental illness, trauma, alcohol use, sex, slut/body shaming, domestic abuse, gaslighting/catfishing, misogyny, brief mentions of drug addiction and pedophilia (not graphic)

this was quite the ride with a bunch of twists & turns, especially in the end. love me a book with rich people drama, even if it's not the entire focus in a story. will definitely pick up more from Jayatissa in the future, this was so easy to get into.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Sexism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Classism

Minor: Car accident, Drug use, Pedophilia, and Ableism

lovelymisanthrope's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

I selected this as my Book of the Month selection for July because I am recently engaged and enthralled by all things weddings. I was so blown away by how much I loved this thriller; once I picked it up, I could not put it down! 
"You're Invited" follows Amaya, a young woman who is invited to her ex-best friend's, Kaavi's, wedding. Despite being childhood friends, and inseparable all their lives, Amaya and Kaavi had some sort of falling out years ago and have not spoken. Now, Kaavi is marrying Amaya's ex-boyfriend and Amaya finds herself heading home to Sri Lanka with one mission: to stop this wedding at all costs. 
This story is told through duel timelines, which is something I really enjoy in thrillers. In the first chapter we find out that Kaavi is missing on the morning of her wedding, and Amaya is the prime suspect. We slowly get the "present day" investigation, but we jump back to the days leading up to the wedding as well. EVERYONE has something they are hiding, and just when you think you have the story figured out, there is a new twist that completely derails everything. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a story set in Sri Lanka, and the author did an impeccable job of making the story incredibly atmospheric. I do think the ending might be polarizing, but I LOVED it.
I am so excited to continue to read from this author!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child abuse and Pedophilia

Minor: Torture

ashhearddwrites's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

Felt a little disappointed by the end - didn't feel like it quite added up

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Pedophilia