Reviews tagging 'Grief'

#murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil

6 reviews

princejello's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I wasn't sure how to feel about the book when I was first getting into it, but the more I read it, the more I came to like it. For me, it's a big plus that it's written in 3rd person as well since nowadays it feels like I run into too many 1st person books. Anyhow, I think the fast paced story really suits the plot and I came to enjoy a lot of the characters introduced throughout the book, and that made it all the harder when some didn't make it to the end. The twist wasn't too surprising, and it really felt like the ending was written as if it were a movie, but it wasn't awful. Might have to check the sequel out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Cursing

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

ecahill23's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Many twists, a tad on the gory/imaginative side. 100% would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, and Grief

literarycavy's review

dark funny 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence

mels_reading_log's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

I don’t normally read horror books but this one was the perfect amount of scary for me. No jump scares, a really creepy premise and a lot of mystery. The main premise is that the US has decided to turn Alcatraz into a town where death row inmates live until they are theatrically murdered by masked seri killers. The whole thing is filmed and shown to the country as the ultimate reality show. The main character, Dee, is convicted of murdering her step sister and sent there to live out her sentence. But she says she didn’t do it, and so do all the other young, beautiful people there. Is something weird going on?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, and Torture

Minor: Cannibalism

skullotonin's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

4.75

lot of twists and turns. would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, War, Death, Genocide, Kidnapping, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Confinement, Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide

it's....... very....... gory............

cheye13's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

3.0

This was fun but I wish there had been... more of it? Like I wished it pushed a little further, got a little more cerebreal. I went into the book with very low expectations, but the exposition was structured so well that I expected a better payoff. I think the "dark comedy" angle really washed out any kind of significant effect or takeaway and I didn't really view it as "comedy" any more than absurdism.

The action and violence was entertaining and the premise was original, but with the level of intrigue in the initial setup, I wanted more of a plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Most of the content is genre-standard, but the portrayal of villains as "psychopaths" or "sociopaths" could be inaccurate and harmful