Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

8 reviews

brielowrey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Abortion, Child death, Death, Stalking, Torture, and Violence

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

I really enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author. The story was deeply upsetting, I was really rooting for the characters, and it was super scary. I had a bit of an idea about some of the events before they unfolded, but I didn't mind. A very fun read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Confinement, Car accident, Child death, Bullying, Death of parent, Child abuse, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Eating disorder, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Rape

Minor: Vomit, Torture, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Abortion

jkar7's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Gore, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Animal cruelty, Self harm, and Vomit

stephanieluxton'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? No

4.5

This story is split into three timelines: The summer of 2000 when a violent crime was committed at the farmhouse, an unknown time in which a mother and young girl are held captive, and present day in which our protagonist, Wylie, a true crime writer who is staying at the farmhouse to finish writing her book is being snowed in and finds a little boy freezing to death outside.

At times, this story feels like three books in one as each storyline slowly unfolds and we try to make predictions and decipher how they're connected. The characters are interesting and it's fun trying to predict their motivations.

The setting adds a lot of atmosphere to the story, especially in the present day/winter scenes. The cold, dark, white out conditions add so much claustrophobia. There were a few scenes in which I was genuinely terrified for our main characters.

My favorite thing about this book was seeing how the different characters reacted to the situations they found themselves in. It felt believable.
One of my least favourite things was the end reveal - the reveal itself was fine, but I think it would have been more impactful if the motivations of the antagonist were a little more defined.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slow burn crime/thrillers and dark "whodunnits". 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Car accident, Sexism, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Pregnancy, Rape, Stalking, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Abortion, Child abuse, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury

horizonous's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Car accident

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Murder, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Suicide, Excrement, Gore, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Vomit

lily_benavides's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Child death, and Rape

Moderate: Pregnancy and Pedophilia

Minor: Animal cruelty

mydearwatsonbooks's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this. I liked that it was duel timelines because I find it easy to get engaged because you want to know what going on in the time lines. I did think this was going to be like an isolated thriller and it was to an extent, but not as much as I hoped. I also liked the true crime aspect to this because I honestly had no clue what this was about so that was a fun surprise. That being said I did guess everything because I thought it was obvious, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gore, Alcoholism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Abortion, Car accident, Confinement, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual violence