Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Next Girl by Carla Kovach

19 reviews

st333phanie's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Stalking, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty

lifeofchrstnlvly's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

2.0

This book is a straightforward procedural thriller. 

It took me some time to finish it due to a lack of compelling tension. Although the stakes were high with a life on the line, the plot revealed the victim's situation while the protagonist, DI Gina Harte, was still trying to solve the case. As a result, I, the reader, was merely waiting for the protagonist to catch up with what I already knew. The question was not 'what will happen?' but 'when and how will the villain be caught?' This aspect dulled the suspense and made me less inclined to pick up the book. 

However, DI Gina Harte, the protagonist, was a well-developed character. Even though her personal backstory didn't profoundly affect me, I could understand her because her character was thoroughly explored. 

I'm undecided about continuing with the series. I might consider reading the second book in the future, but if it follows the same format, I may not pursue the entire series.

Also, to be honest, Harte was a bit.. dumb for a DI. She actually didn't solve the case in this book. All the pieces just fell into place: she didn't find the victim, someone else did. She didn't take down the perpetrator. Someone else did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Blood, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Rape, Death, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Pregnancy

yarm's review

challenging dark 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

4.25

Very tense. Good suspense. Hard to put down. Trigger warning for abuse and trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Kidnapping, Rape, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Violence

yvo_about_books's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.25

Finished reading: April 30th 2024

“The combination of thunder and seeing the helpless baby had dug up her memories. Memories she'd rather forget.”

I came across this series when I was browsing my kindle for titles to read to help complete my kindle freebies goal, and since I've been meaning to try Carla Kovach's writing for a while now I decided to give in. The Next Girl is the first book of a detective thriller series, and it starts on a heavy note with a kidnapping case as well as a focus on domestic abuse. It's not a bad read, but somehow there wasn't really anything that made this thriller stand out from other books in the genre either. I think this had a lot to do with the main character Gina, who I was unable to warm up to. She seemed too much like your stereotypical flawed detective with a troubled past, and the rest of the cast wasn't overly developed either. The many references to her past and psychological consequences in the present not only made her seem less competent as a detective, but also started to annoy me considerably. The fact that she was sleeping with her boss didn't really help either to be honest. The plot itself dragged in parts as well, and as a result it took me longer than expected to read The Next Girl . The case itself had a lot of potential and there were moments that were more suspenseful, but as a whole I felt that something was lacking. And while the final part was more engaging, it couldn't fully save this story for me. All in all it wasn't a bad read, but I don't think I will be continuing with this series... I still have too many other detective thriller series I want to start/continue instead.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Dementia, Death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Stalking, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Rape

jul1a_pl's review

challenging emotional sad tense 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? N/A

3.5

When reading I felt like it's another crime story which was supposed to be full if plot twists but turned out quite disappointing. The plot was in my opinion unbelievable - I could never imagine this happening in real life so I had issue sympathising with main characters. 

For me, the detective was a cliché policewoman - family problems, puts work first, always working, has some trauma what makes it hard for her to has a good relationship with her daughter etc. and her character wasn't too developed. I didn't care too much about what happens and had happened to her.

Apart from a few plot twists in the first few chapters, I wasn't really involved in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Stalking, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Sexual violence and Rape

sianynicole's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Enjoyable gritty read. Good mix of character and plot focus. Multiple points of view but not so many as to be boring, and they progressed the story well. Kept me guessing as to who the suspect was. I enjoyed Gina and will look into reading some more of the series. Also, poor Brooke!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Rape, Grief, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

amandamaree's review

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Death

Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

emory's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Stalking, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Confinement

pinkvogue's review

dark mysterious 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Stalking

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, and Domestic abuse

tinasparane's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

  3.7 stars.

The average Goodreads rating is 3.90 based on 15,653 ratings.

This book was incredibly disturbing; it made me feel physically ill and sick to my stomach. I acquired it for free on StuddYourKindle day, following a TikTok recommendation. However, I was unprepared for the criminal-thriller theme.

Despite the book having a happy ending, I can't shake the feeling that there wouldn't be anything happy if we were to follow the characters further. I'm left pondering the psychiatric diagnosis of one particular side character.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness