Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

60 reviews

nishtrbg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Blood, Alcoholism, Rape, Torture, Murder, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

r3ginavera's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

Absolutely blew me away, I haven’t been this engrossed by a thriller in a good while. A lot of times it feels like thrillers can’t stick the landing, like they’re good but only up to a certain point and then they fizzle out. Pretty girls sticks the landing several times over, you can tell she had a vision and a plan mapped out from the beginning of the story and it wraps up brilliantly (and heartbreakingly). This put me through such a wide range of emotions, I could not flip the pages fast enough. And this was Slaughter’s first ever psychological thriller?! What a triumph.

It can definitely be hard read, I would check out the CW/TW before you crack this one open because some of the images are very graphic and disturbing.
Will not be everyone’s cup of tea, or what some people could stomach, and that’s okay.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Gore, Violence, Death, Rape, Grief, Trafficking, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

tinkithesquirelll's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

This book knocked the air out of me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Death, Cursing, Stalking, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual violence, Gore, Grief, Addiction, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Car accident, Drug use, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Sexual assault

cassie_happened's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Death, Violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, and Suicide

izkristajean's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Blood

bmitch21's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Murder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Stalking, and Torture

janachigo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Stalking, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Body horror, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Gore, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Torture, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Body shaming and Dementia

lacemac's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Absolutely incredible from start to finish. 

I sobbed, I gasped, I cringed and I squirmed. 

The most gripping book I have ever read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Gore, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, Child death, Murder, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Rape

ernareads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I’ve somewhat low expectations for this book. It was one of those books going around on booktok, and I’ve been disappointed a couple of times by some of the recommendations. Anyway, it obviously blew my mind, I would say it is one of my favorite books of this year? First of all, it was pretty graphic in the middle. Do read the trigger warnings before diving in. I've tried my best to identify the right triggers... so do check.

The characters are well written, well for me at least. The manipulations at play were really well written. The way Paul isolated Claire away from her family members. The way Paul was always in control at every step. Domestic abuse is usually tied to physical abuse. However here we can see that despite Claire being ‘well treated’ by her husband, she was indeed in a domestic abuse relationship. She wasn’t abused physically, she was abused psychologically and emotionally.

Also, we can also see how it affects the victim’s family members. The aftermath of the case, the devastation, the breakdown of relationships. One of the parents became obsessed with the case, the other one tried to ‘move on’. People grieve differently, and marriages break because of that. Sam was obsessed with his daughter’s disappearance, Helen on the other hand, still grieving for her, but had to move ahead in order to take care of her other living daughters: Lydia and Claire.

Probably 50% into the books, it got too graphic. I just skimmed through it, but it was rather interesting how Paul was also involved in abusing the victims. I wonder how he got involved. How did he first start committing these gruesome crimes? Did his father introduce him to these crimes? I will probably read this book again to better understand Paul’s involvement. The history between Paul and his father was briefly mentioned, and I really think it would be great to further elaborate their relationship. As for Paul’s mother, she was innocent. She was in fact looking for Julia during one of the searches for Julia’s disappearance. [Paul’s father was a psychopath and obviously a sadistic person. Was Paul being introduced to these violents and became like his father, or was he born a psychopath?]

As the chapters come to an end, we can see how Claire managed to piece the puzzles together. Claire was written as a frail woman, someone who depended on others. In order to uncover the truth, she had to go out of her comfort zone and dig into her husband’s private life. For once in her life, she had to think for herself, and she had to take action on her own. For a while, all these decisions are made for her by her husband. Another red flag in her marriage.

In conclusion, the book was well written: the plot, the twists at the end, and the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Alcoholism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

ameliez's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Torture, Rape, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Confinement

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Animal cruelty