Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Next Girl by Carla Kovach

11 reviews

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

mandarose79's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Murder, and Emotional abuse

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

jewelzbooks44's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Hard to read certain parts. A good crime thirller. Definitely gives you intense feeling throughout story. Some characters could a had more history to them. Also after everything, more of the bonding of family. 4 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Confinement, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicide

shinararose's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

I fully admit this book took me a minute to get in to. There are a couple of reasons my first read of 2024 only gets 3 stars :( I had forgotten it was set in England so the slang was hard to read as a Canadian girly. The title doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Was Debbie the next girl? Or is it referring to Florence/isobel? The quote made more sense once you read the flash back. I wish we could’ve seen more of Jeff’s reaction to drowning Debbie but I liked how the fisherman saved her. 

I also really liked Gina’s character development. The author showed a lot of honesty in how she was just trying to make it through the day. Hannah though deserves a bit of a smack. Like I get you idolized him but how can you not see your mother’s feelings about it? Bit selfish of her. I hope they repair things in the next book. 

Not sure how I feel about the interoffice “situationship” but I think they have a great group of characters to follow through the novels. Curious to continue the series and see if they explore the others in more detail

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Pregnancy

elliphant's review

dark sad tense slow-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? Yes

2.75

The theme and storytelling were at times really dark and disturbing.

The pace, writing, and dialogue were a bit awkward and, at worst, repetitive and cringey.

I don’t know what the descriptions meant with “heart-stopping twist” cause there certainly wasn’t any.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse

wrappingpaper's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

It truly was unputdownable!! I found this book randomly for free on kindle - good thing I did! I ended up finishing this in less than a day (something I don’t do very often) 
At first I was sceptical about the writing style, but I really felt like the story was real. We meet a lot of characters and learn a lot about them and their lives. Overall I would’ve loved a bit more about (spoiler) Debbie’s life after being saved, however it’s possible that’ll be featured in the next book. I felt really connected to the story and really felt for the characters during their struggles. 

Highly recommend if you’re into crime novels and looking for a fast paced engaging read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Drug abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty and Cancer

_em_lauren's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

An easy read that keeps you engrossed in the plot. Very tense and keeps you guessing. The chapters focus on different characters and keeps you in suspense all throughout the story. Would definitely recommend.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Rape, Stalking, Vomit, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Blood, Animal cruelty, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

jesshart8's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Excrement, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Stalking

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

username330's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Torture

Minor: Grief, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent