Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

17 reviews

lexithelion's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Out of Lucy Foley's 3 murder mysteries, this is definitely my least favourite. However, that is not to say that this is a bad book, because it's not. This book is a great first mystery that combines the difficult inter-workings of friendships and an establishing plot-line that puts all the characters in an abstract and very solitary situation. The book does not drag and the story is incredibly easy to follow; props to Lucy Foley for being able to write a 0% confusing mystery novel that jumps back-and-forth in time and also utilizes multi-perspective chapters. I will say that this book seemed quite fast and the ending was incredibly abrupt which is a pattern I've noticed in Foley's literature. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal death, Death, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Gore

Minor: Grief, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Medical content

growfromit's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Stalking, Sexual content, and Classism

lighterthaneyre's review against another edition

• 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

2.5

A real nice sense of tension was built. The trickle feeding of information to the reader was a bit heavy handed (ex: one POV referring to the victim exclusively as 'the guest' to obfuscate who died), but the slow characterization build worked well. Less impressed by the build of the myster itself - lots of mood, little in the way of clues.

Honestly annoying that the flaws and conflicts between the characters wasn't the spark of the crime. It doesn't count as red herrings if Everything is a red herring and the real enemy was communism personality disorders all along

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Gun violence, Stalking, Drug use, and Animal death

Moderate: Gore, Grief, and Bullying

natgoe's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Violence, Toxic friendship, Blood, Drug use, Gore, Stalking, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Infertility, and Grief

moyarb's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.25

I did love the setting and how isolated it felt. It set the mood and the last 20 chapters or so were enjoyable. Unfortunately, this was too slow for me (It's 60 chapters plus an epilogue!), but I think if I didn't go in expecting a whodunnit and seeing the reviews on the back cover comparing it to Agatha Christie, I probably would've enjoyed it more. This wasn't a murder mystery, but more like a domestic drama with some suspense sprinkled at the end. The characters were either very unlikable or boring, and the ending wasn't satisfying. Of the trope about a group of longtime friends who secretly hate each other, this was the weakest. 

Earlier this year, I read The Paris Apartment which is Lucy Foley's most recent work and the first book of hers I read.  I loved The Paris Apartment, but having read The Hunting Party and the preview of The Guest List, Foley's mysteries are pretty much the same format: Multiple POVs set back and forth in time during the present and the time leading up to the present and I suppose it all depends on execution because I think The Paris Apartment was more engaging and had a good blend of the drama and the mystery. At least it showed that Foley improved on her formula. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Infidelity, Animal death, Death, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, Sexual content, Stalking, Drug use, Alcohol, Ableism, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Violence, Pregnancy, Blood, Cursing, and Outing

rmperash's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Infidelity, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Gore, Medical content, Pregnancy, Violence, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Death, Gun violence, and Infertility

Moderate: War

Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, Self harm, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Body shaming

kimveach's review against another edition

mysterious 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

4.25

It's a good thriller - especially on audio.  The different British accents brought life to these characters that I would have missed reading in print.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Self harm, Cursing, Drug use, Alcohol, Classism, Infertility, Mental illness, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

writer_egreene's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Drug use, Murder, Blood, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Gore, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Self harm

bornachoker's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

There's an addictive quality to Lucy Foley's thrillers, and this one was no exception. Somehow I hated the characters while simultaneously feeling sorry for them - especially Miranda. Although I started the book hoping she was the one who died, I ended it wishing that she had had the chance to build a new life for herself. I also appreciated how neatly the various storylines tied together, it made for a really satisfying resolution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Classism, Cursing, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, Violence, and War

Moderate: Eating disorder, Body shaming, and Drug use

Minor: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Drug abuse

katieav's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I found this to be a very enjoyable read. While I wasn’t surprised by most of the revelations in the book, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. I was disappointed in the

drug revelation as I thought that was kind of anti climatic and that we didn’t know who “the boss” was-I half expected it to be someone they all knew!

but I don’t think it made the book not worth a read. While I appreciate that the flaws were important to the book-the constant focus on the women’s physical descriptions did make me roll my eyes. This was also a very descriptive and gory book I think could make it very difficult for some people to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Animal death, and Gore

Moderate: Body shaming, War, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Eating disorder