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The Hiding Place / The Taking of Annie Thorne
The Hiding Place / The Taking of Annie Thorne
C.J. Tudor | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller
10
8.2 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
The protagonist in this book is Joe Thorne, a teacher, who has very serious gambling problems. He comes back to his little hometown because of several reasons, and that is where history starts to repeat itself. I really enjoyed Joe’s character, he is incredibly witty and sarcastic and made me laugh on multiple occasions. I really liked the way the author portrayed the atmosphere of this little town and the people living there. I loved how the characters in this book were developed, and how interesting and intriguing they were.

When I started this book, I thought it is going to be a crime mystery, and was really pleasantly surprised to find it to be a horror story. The narrative travels between present and past, explaining many events which are influencing the present, and I really liked this way of storytelling. The author used a single perspective in this novel, and I think it worked very beautifully. The topics discussed in this book were bullying, gambling, school life and wish to fit in, etc.

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style of this book, I think all the twists and turns were in the right places, and it was a true page turner for me. The chapters had very decent length and were just flying by for me. I have to throw in a disclaimer, there are some severe and nasty cases of bullying in this book, which might upset some readers. The ending rounded the story very nicely, and I really liked the way the author wrote it.

So, to conclude, it is an incredibly well-written horror story, that is dark, creepy, and gave chills down my spine. It is filled with a great variety of characters and unexpected plot, which held me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. I strongly recommend to read this book, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
  
13 Reasons Why  - Season 1
13 Reasons Why - Season 1
2017 | Drama
The acting (1 more)
Engaging
Potentially triggering (1 more)
Extremely controversial
While I found the show interesting and binge watched it over a few days, I agree that it is highly controversial and definitely not for everyone. There are some scenes that are extremely difficult to watch and if you're in a dark place yourself, I would not recommend watching this.

I personally admire how Thirteen Reasons Why was willing to tackle such a sensitive topic that needs more light shed upon it. Depression, bullying and generally feeling hopeless is something that cannot be ignored. Teens and others in these situations need to know that it's okay to talk to someone about these feelings before they get too much; before they end up in the place Hannah did.

Personally, I did enjoy Thirteen Reasons Why and look forward to seeing what season 2 brings, however, I do believe the direction in which this show goes could, perhaps, be fairly damaging some.
  
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Louise (64 KP) rated The List in Books

Jul 2, 2018  
TL
The List
Siobhan Vivian | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
4
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

This is the first time I have read anything my Siobhan Vivien, so I didn’t quite no what to expect. This is told by multiple characters attending high school. Every year a list is created naming the ugliest and prettiest girls – no-one know who creates this list but it can be brutal and we see the impact that it has on our characters and how they deal with bullying. I didn’t really like this story there were too many perspectives and I felt that nothing really felt resolved at the end. What I did like was that it allowed us to see how it affects people and how they are treated when something so superficial is posted around high school – the characters are at an impressionable age and something like this can scar you for life.

I rated 2 out of 5 stars
  
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Anne (15117 KP) rated Look Both Ways in Books

Nov 4, 2019  
Look Both Ways
Look Both Ways
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Thank you to Libro.fm and Simon & Schuster Audio for letting me listen and review this book. It's a collection of ten stories about what happens on the walks home from school and also in life. It touches and discusses topics of bullying, illnesses, figuring out who you are and what you want from life and what you want to do in life.
It's a collection of stories told by everyday people about their ordinary lives that really aren't all that ordinary when you read and think about the stories and the meanings, you can see how extraordinary all of us ordinary people in our everyday lives really are.
This is a deep and especially meaningful collection of stories about a variety of topics that we all hear about, experience or have someone close to us experience. It's definitely worth your time to read and listen to these stories. The audio is especially fun when listening to the characters in these stories.
  
All Your Twisted Secrets
All Your Twisted Secrets
Diana Urban | 2020 | Young Adult (YA)
4
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
TW: Drug use, suicide, bullying, toxic friends: Overall I enjoyed most of this book. There was a few writing issues that took me out of the story like certain descriptions of sounds characters would make would be used multiple times. In the beginning it was also hard to keep track of which character was which. This story took a turn for the bad towards the end. It reminded me heavily of one of us is lying; someone in the room knew what was happening. In Amber's quest to make Sasha see the error of her ways (after Sasha accuses her of being like her) Amber becomes just as terrible if not more so than the toxic Sasha. In the end Amber ends up messing up 6 people's lives trying to prove a point instead of trying to properly get her friend back and get Sasha some much needed help. I really disliked the ending but the book keep me reading so it gets points there.