Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs

22 reviews

jax10124's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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 one was definitely out of my comfort zone. I liked the tv show so I thought I’d give it a try. 

Temperance is trying to convince the Montreal Police that there’s a serial killer. Chaos ensues when she takes matters into her own hands. 

I listened to the abridged version and felt like I got the full story. Not sure what the full version would be like. I’m not sure I liked the thriller aspect(my preferences), and I was disappointed in the differences between the show and the book (show Tempe is more badass). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, and Murder

Minor: Abortion

emalderwood'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

3.75

I've read later books from Reichs and it was interesting to see how much her writing has developed since this first Temperance Brennan novel. I found the prose sometimes a little clunky and over stated, but all in all it kept steady suspense throughout and kept me reading. Brennan's idioisms and thoughts were distinctly her, making her a compelling and believable voice as the main character. I also loved the detail of her work as a science geek but could definitely see it being a bit too expositiony for some. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Gore, Blood, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Stalking, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Misogyny

Minor: Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

marieby's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual assault, and Medical content

Moderate: Gaslighting, Stalking, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Homophobia, Animal death, Transphobia, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

phdoyle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Stalking, Torture, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, and Animal death

art_books_chemistry's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Child death, Blood, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Forced institutionalization

writer595's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Murder, and Sexual violence

cat12345's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Murder, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Grief, Child death, Cursing, Rape, and Alcoholism

Minor: Transphobia, War, Infidelity, Sexism, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Abortion, Homophobia, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Vomit

ekmsmith's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The book starts off a bit slow, but once the mystery really gets going it's an engrossing read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Sexual violence

artmajorese's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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? No

2.0

Very graphic and violent towards women. As crazed and full of exclamation marks as the TV series it spawned. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Stalking, Torture, and Violence

jennfs10's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Murder, Torture, Animal death, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Gore, Misogyny, and Sexual violence

Was curious about this series bc it came up in a recommendation list of cozy mystery series but it’s firmly in the thriller/crime genre. My expectations weren’t prepared so I was taken aback by the graphic depictions of violence. I understand that she’s a forensic anthropologist but to me, it implied she mostly investigated cold cases which she did but in this story, she also investigated ongoing violent murders. My 3.5 star rating is mostly for the at times clunky, technical descriptions of procedural tasks in the lab. Granted this book was published in 1997 so perhaps this type of procedural description was considered new and so allowing the author leeway would lend the character some legitimacy as a forensic anthropologist but I ended up skimming a lot of those passages and by doing so found did not detract from the story. I did check out the next book from the library but I’m continuing the series with caution. Hopefully the procedural tasks will be slimmed down a bit. I’m also still deciding if I like Tempe’s character. She has flaws for sure and they get her into trouble but I’m willing to keep reading to see how or if she changes