Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

8 reviews

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

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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

bluejayreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious

3.75

This book is sad, dark, and incredibly intense. It goes hard on the mystery elements, and even though there's some hints of the supernatural, most of it is entirely human. Everyone has secrets, the question is just how they fit together. I called several of the twists at 51% of the way through, but I didn't spot all of them, which surprised me. There's heavy questions about whether people can be truly inherently evil or if "good" and "evil" are defined by our actions and everyone has the capacity to choose. I didn't expect to like this one very much, but it was surprisingly good. I didn't adore it, but I did enjoy it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Gun violence, and Child death

Minor: Pedophilia

Romantic partner death, unreality

saraellenme's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, and Torture

Moderate: Child death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Grief

Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Drug abuse, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Grief

emilynicholls's review against another edition

challenging 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Child death, Torture, Stalking, and Suicide

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Gun violence, Rape, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

effys's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was an incredible read. I’ve never read anything quite like this before so it took me a little while to get into the flow of it but once I was into it it had me completely hooked. There was a lot going on and a lot of different viewpoints throughout this story but the way it was written meant it was clear and pretty easy to follow while still keeping you fully immersed in the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Gun violence

kathryn_a's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit

sunsetcity's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Stalking

thatsssorachael's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I have trouble with Tudor's books, mostly with the immediate beginnings and the endings. I still had those issues with this book, but I thought everything else was really well done. 

The cold open beginning was a little confusing, and after having read the entire book I'm still not entirely sure what the author was going for. But the pace the rest of the book was excellent, and definitely kept me fully engaged. I could read page after page after page, I needed to know what happened. 

There's a plot twist featuring a main side character, and I did not see that one coming. I thought that was very smart and thought out, especially as you assume Tudor isn't going there as she's hinted around it so much. I thought it was very clever, and I enjoyed that. I liked that the supernatural element wasn't waved away as something else, I like supernatural elements in stories and I'm always a little sad when it's explained as something else by the end. Flo was an excellent, realistic, flawed character, and I enjoyed reading her perspectives. I also liked that the small village was almost a mood or a character of its own, I thought that was really compelling and it sucked me right in. On top of all that, the writing and dialogue was well done, and I think this one might be Tudor's best. 

However, the ending. The last twist wasn't good. It wasn't explained well, the ties weren't fully tied, and it was confusing and unrealistic. This is a common issue she has with her books, and it's frustrating that on her 3rd (4th?) book it's still happening. It's a twist that you can't see coming or solve yourself with the clues given, and I never like those. I also really struggled with the male alternate chapters, and while I know who he is now, I don't understand him or his motivations. On the topic of the alternating chapters, while I liked the different perspectives, I didn't like not knowing who was starting a chapter and having to scan the page to figure it out. 

This was a compelling thriller, and I did stay up way too late to finish it. I liked it, and maybe you will too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Gore, Suicide, and Animal death

Moderate: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, and Terminal illness

Minor: Gun violence