Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Dear Laura by Gemma Amor

8 reviews

killmoore_'s review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.75

I really enjoyed Dear Laura, but to get to that point I had to stop thinking about it. There are a few painfully ignored questions that caused my review to drop drastically (why did he get in the car?!) and the ending fell a bit flat fo  me personally, but I loved the world that Gemma creates for her reader. Forever grateful that as a 30+ year old woman, I couldn't care any less about what's going on with my boyfriend of 20 years ago. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Mental illness, Child death, Grief, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Bullying, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, and Vomit

missgrangerr's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

True horror, for me, is based in reality. Your best friend and newly made boyfriend goes missing at 15 and you’re the last person to see him before he gets into a strangers van; that’s horror. Laura’s life after, his parents lives, true horror. This book really delves into the not knowing and how desperate one is to find out. It also plays with the illusion of free will and power in a relationship and how it can ruin a person. When she didn’t hear from X she was panicking and when she did she was still panicking. The power he had over her was tremendous and Gemma Amor wrote it fantastically.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Body horror, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

ghostblush's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Stalking, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal death

jrharris's review

dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Self harm, and Pedophilia

catsy2022's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

3.5

Rating: B+

Dear Laura, a book I think I might've read before, is about Laura, whose childhood best friend and boyfriend, Bobby, is kidnapped by a man suddenly one day and vanishes without a trace. She spends years processing the trauma of this event and navigating the social relationships around her until she receives a letter from the man who claims to have kidnapped and killed Bobby. 

This is a very short book which unravels in alternating chapters between the present and the past, where Laura is a teenager and navigating the requests she receives from X in her letters. I did like the set-up and the writing style was decent, not too descriptive and verbose, but not so simple to be underwhelming. I also really felt that the scene where Bobby was taken was such a well-written scene that described so accurately the confusion of a child in seeing her friend leave with a stranger, but also leave her behind without reason.

Worth a read if you're looking for short horror fiction grounded in reality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Moderate: Self harm, Vomit, and Blood

Self harm -

Laura rips out her own tooth.

tigrah's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Pedophilia, Stalking, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Cursing

jazgryph's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This book is often labeled as a horror novel, but it is more of a thriller/suspense kind of book. It did not really give me a scare like I had hoped for, but there were some parts that made me wince. Mild spoiler:

Overall, the story was pretty sad and you will feel bad for Laura, and perhaps a bit angry with the way she went about certain things, but the ending was bittersweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Grief, Pedophilia, and Stalking

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Minor: Drug abuse

Look over the content warnings I listed. If you are someone who does not like reading about things like pedophilia, stalking, etc. then this book may make you uncomfortable, so it may be in your best interest not to read it.

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