Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

4 reviews

enzopudge's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, and Child abuse

rylin_marie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Child death, Addiction, Blood, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

This was an intriguing read based on the premise (YA criminal minds) and lives up to that. It was a bit more gory/intense than I anticipated but it’s to be expected when serial killers are involved. This was a quick read because there’s almost no depth to these characters. Cassie is just a girl whose defining features include her mother dying five years ago and that she is naturally good at profiling people. She felt very bland and while the other characters are more interesting, it’s not by much. The quality of the writing is mediocre. I appreciated the twist at the end though I saw it coming right before the reveal. This book is unique enough and I enjoyed this book enough that I will continue the series, though I will just be borrowing from the library.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Stalking, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Alcohol, Abandonment, Bullying, and Domestic abuse

kaitlynnnng's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The Inheritance Games books make up my favorite series ever, so I’ve always been a little nervous about reading more by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, in case the other books can’t compare. However, I finally decided to give The Naturals a try because I saw several TikToks about this series being even better.

The first half of the book felt very slow. I’m not sure if it’s because school just started so I’m back to worth and overwhelmed, or if I genuinely just wasn’t as into the book as I’d hoped, but it took me, like, 6 days to read the first half, and only 1 day to read the second half. Needless to say, it finally got good…halfway in.

I like that this storyline had a solid ending, and the hunt for the killer aka Lacey didn’t carry over into the next book!

I don’t feel very passionate about either boy in the love triangle. I like them both, but I’m not steadily on a team yet.

The whole time, I had a feeling that someone in the program and/or the FBI would be involved, but I did not see it being Lacey. As a matter of fact, at one point, I thought she’d end up being a target because she also had red hair! However, as a result of this, I didn’t really trust any of the characters, so I didn’t get attached to any of them. I hope I feel more connected to them in the next few books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Body horror, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Alcohol