Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Dear Laura by Gemma Amor

12 reviews

poisoned_icecream's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Blood, and Stalking

lyrcheylap's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Vomit, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault

wends_nblw's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I think I would have liked this book more if it hadn't been raved about in the horror book community. I was expecting something amazing and showstopping; which this book was not. Not to say it was bad, because it wasn't. I liked the concept and the ending, but I think it fell short for me due to high expectations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Stalking, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug use

xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

4.25 stars! Far better than expected. A dark, twisted tale perfect for Halloween season. If you are especially sensitive to paedophilia, this book might trigger you, therefore proceed with caution.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking

hapikohw's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

A quick tragedy of a girl who spent her whole life tethered to a predator using her guilt and grief against her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Abandonment, and Gun violence

chloseencounter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This was a short read that was very eerie and effective, it definitely gave me the absolute creeps (but I also made the mistake of reading this all in the middle of the night in the dark). My only complaint is I didn’t think the ending was entirely satisfying but it wasn’t bad either. 

When I first finished the story I felt  like it was super scary but after sitting on it for a few days it’s left less of a lasting impact on me than I would’ve thought initially. Either way this book still accomplishes a lot for how short it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Pedophilia, Stalking, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, and Grief

Minor: Abandonment, Confinement, Alcohol, Mental illness, Sexual content, Animal death, and Panic attacks/disorders

zeegy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

an uncomfortable read about an uncomfortable yet terrifyingly possible occurrence 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Body horror, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Gore, Medical content, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Stalking, Vomit, Animal death, and Blood

nabaraditi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

 This book was obsessive, horrifying, mysterious and creepy and I liked it. I read it in 1 evening. 
I had just 2 problems with the plot 

1. it was never explaing why Bobby voluntarily got in the car. I'm assuming that he was told that he has to either sacrifice himself or he'll take Laura? Because Bobby does look back a bit (if I remember clearly) to Laura and then gets in the car. 
 2. I sort of lost the appeal of the whole "give me personal things for Bobby" as X already told LAura that Bobby is dead. I was like why does it matter now? Bobby is dead already. I understand human sentiment to get closure. And Laura being the sweet girl she is, she wants Bobby's mom to get closure as well. But still. I wish the bribe would have made more sense if she would get Bobby alive and unharmed or something like that

 
I like the book explained how the character was feeling, what she was thinking. That helped me be in her shoes and feel the same kind of emotions. The writing is compelling, for sure. 
This book talks about grief and loss (<b> that could be a trigger warning </b> ) and a teenager being depressed and how much the loss affects her for a longer period. This book also talks about how teenagers are pulled into horrible things when they are vulnerable.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Stalking, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Drug use

chloemxym's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Gun violence, and Self harm

henrygravesprince's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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? No

3.75

Assorted thoughts:

1. The beginning feels a little off — or, maybe, I think it’s more that the writing style takes a bit to slide into? I’m not sure, but it took me a minute to stop feeling off with it.
2. I think the
   ‘confrontation’
   is a bit on the nose. Really, it’s the fact that
   he asked her to look at his scars and commented about not being “liked” in prison; it feels like a too-blatant villain monologue cut short when just showing the scars without his comments on them would have made the point just as well or, in my opinion, better
   .
3. I saw some reviewers comment that the ending is unrealistic, and
   maybe this is because I’m from the US where the justice system is busted and victim-blamey, and am not super well-versed in the UK’s justice system, but I found that the protagonist went to jail for killing a predator who tormented her for years & threatened her child
   to be one of the things that struck me as most “real” in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Kidnapping, Child death, Grief, Murder, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail