Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Dear Laura by Gemma Amor

6 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

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

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.

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

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

anger566's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Stalking, Murder, and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit, Drug use, and Gun violence