Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

47 reviews

kier__'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Medical content, Murder, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Animal death, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Gaslighting, and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, Sexual content, Stalking, and Adult/minor relationship

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Spooky small village setting with spooky residents? Check. Ramping up the tension and eeriness? Check. Untrustworthy characters with complicated histories? Oh yes. All classic Tudor tropes I've come to love and The Burning Girls didn't disappoint.

This story had a lot of side plots to keep straight, and while I appreciated all the connections (and guessed one of them like a proper sleuth!), by the end there were an awful lot of mysterious deaths with different explanations. I know we're not looking for realism in a horror like this, but it did get a little far fetched for one tiny Sussex village!

That said, I loved Jack and Flo; Jack might be the best fictional vicar I've ever encountered. And the creepy was creeping hard, which I absolutely loved.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Bullying

stellenelcielo's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

ngl I started reading this in 2021 and then stopped halfway because life decided to get traumatizing for no reason...but yeah, decided only to finish it because I picked up another book by this author about vampires in Alaska, that I found out in the wild (walmart) and felt I needed to finish this one first. 

I did enjoy finishing it, but felt a lot was going on. I vibed with it anyway, and my only real (minor) criticism is that

Rosie also being a psychopath felt like it came out of left field

, and it was a real missed opportunity to

make Wrigley the sole psychopath, mirroring the online alt-right, misogynistic and incel culture that seems to nurture sociopathy in teenage boys.

I was not prepared for that final reveal, but I mostly chalk that up to taking more than a year to finish the book so my memory of the finer details is a bit fuzzy. Anyway, yeah, was a solid entertaining read, and I look forward to 'The Gathering', which has been waiting on my shelf for the last week.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Child death, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Gore, Sexism, Stalking, Child abuse, and Death

joslynhebda's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Child abuse, Bullying, Confinement, Suicide, Murder, and Physical abuse

clarkg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

While the story itself is compelling and well-written, this book has some serious problems with regards to its representations of Black, disabled, and queer people. There is a particularly gruesome depiction of Black, queer, low-income women that leans heavily on violent "welfare queen" stereotypes, made worse by the fact that the book has no positive examples of people of color in its main cast of characters. Additionally, this book contains a disability trope/storyline that I found to be in extremely poor taste. I believe in giving people grace and room to grow, but at least within the confines of this story, I wish that the author had been more mindful of how her choices work to reinforce harmful societal narratives about marginalized communities. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Violence, Murder, Blood, Emotional abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Moderate: Gore, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism, Murder, Racism, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Stalking, Ableism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Bullying

Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Dementia, and Animal death

the_bookish_hungarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Child death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy

katietreebee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

4.5

Dark and brutal and had me hooked from the first page! Not my usual genre but CJ Tudor is fast becoming a favourite of mine. Also it had multiple references to The Lost Boys, which is always a win in my book

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Bullying, Murder, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

anna6705's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

It was a page turner in the truest sense; I was gripped from start to finish. Such a fantastic thriller.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child abuse

Moderate: Child death, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia

lindseylosers's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Body horror, Pedophilia, Stalking, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Child death, Suicide, Death, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Bullying, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Outing

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Mental illness, Animal death, Abandonment, Bullying, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Child death, Murder, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug use, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Car accident