Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

26 reviews

rchatterjee188's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Bullying, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Grief, Ableism, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Blood, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, and Confinement

samluh's review

adventurous 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Very good pay off at the end! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, Gore, Death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Animal death, Alcohol, Sexual content, Bullying, Blood, Gun violence, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Abandonment

ginny_lind's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Daisy Darker is a new take on a classic Agatha Chrisie plot line, but just left me wanting. The story was engaging, but the writing style didn't grip me. While I didn't see the plot twist coming, I still felt underwhelmed by the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Suicide, Chronic illness, Cancer, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming

dev921's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Alcoholism, Bullying, Murder, Death, Alcohol, Body shaming, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

screechie's review

sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Another one that benefits from speeding up the audio, it suited the pacing of the book more. I did like the characters, though some were fleshed out more than others. Glad the acknowledgement of the Agatha Christie inspiration was there. 

What made me want to throw the book against the wall was the Sixth Sense-ing of an ending. It felt like we were cheated out of another ending by a publisher who just wanted to see it printed already. And given the And Then There Were None source, it was apparent from the “2nd” death Nana was still alive, but it being that obvious was a bummer because it killed any suspense built around the possibility of a red herring. It was a “drop the shoe already” from exasperation instead of anticipation.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Medical content, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, and Chronic illness

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Bullying, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, and Grief

mdavis26's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Car accident, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, and Death of parent

fanboyriot's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

It definitely gave off And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (which was mentioned in the book) plus the narrator was great, her voice was quite relaxing.

I went into this knowing nothing about it and I kinda recommend that.  The plot is  much more interesting that way in my opinion.  However, it definitely felt dragged out and at times, it seemed like there were some unnecessary chapters but overall it was pretty entertaining.  

The plot twist near the end got me.  I wasn’t expecting that but I’m not sure how I felt about it at the same time.  Everything tied in together to the poem of the family.  Exposing the family secrets one by one leading them to the biggest secret of all and getting revenge for it after so many years.

And lastly, never cross Nana… or else you’ll end up like the rest of the Darker family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Bullying, Child death, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Alcohol, Ableism, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Confinement, Medical trauma, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Body shaming, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Drug use, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Sexual harassment

micaelamariem's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 

I always surprise myself when I opt to pick up a thriller/mystery, and I surprise myself even more when I actually like it. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney, published by Flatiron Books, was my Book of the Month choice from last summer. 

I think most people, if you aren't me, have heard of Alice Feeney. She was a BBC reporter for fifteen years before finding success in her writing. Since then, her novels have found international success. Daisy Darker is her fifth novel. 

Daisy Darkeris a locked room mystery. When the Darker family returns to a tiny tidal island off of Cornwall to celebrate Nana's 80th birthday, a storm brews both outside and in. At midnight, Nana is found dead. An hour later, the next family member follows. The remaining Darker family need to figure out who is behind the murders or risk not surviving the night. 

"Don't spend all your ambition on other people's dreams." 

This book is clearly a retelling of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and it reminded me of that the whole read. However, some other books that might be similar are The Guest List by Lucy Foley, One by One by Ruth Ware, and The Family Game by Catherine Steadman.  

I really enjoyed this book, despite my general aversion to mysteries. This one was exciting. But beyond that, Alice Feeney has a very prolific writing style. Her sentences are beautiful and calls to something deeper. She is able to have the main character reflect on past traumas and her dysfunctional family and find a deeper meaning in that, even while something nefarious is going on around her. 

Don't get me wrong--even while the main character looks for redeemable qualities in her family, they are still mostly unlikable. Perhaps that is a necessary quality so that the reader doesn't get too sad when/if one of them dies. It did make me sad for the main character however, and the trauma she grew up with. 

The way the plot twist is set up is also very clever. I'm not going to spoil anything, but it's those kind of books where things might start to make sense if you go back through a second time. I'm tempted to. However, I still didn't like the plot twist--it seemed a bit far-fetched and fantastical and I wasn't expecting it (I suppose that's the point of a plot twist--but it was so unexpected that it jerked me out of the story). 

I also loved the parallel of the past and the present so we can see how the whole family got to be as broken as it was. Plus, the flashbacks do provide some vital clues to the killer and motive. Though, I must say, I completely missed it. 

So....due to me being gripped by the story the whole way, the beautiful writing, intense characters but somewhat disappointing plot twist I give this book four stars. And I still do highly recommend it to locked room thriller lovers and anyone that likes things a little creepy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Grief, Murder, Death of parent, Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.75

I was extremely into this story, and I appreciated the story the whole way through. The writing may have had a tiny edit for my preference, but I will definitely read this author again. Love a twisty tale.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Death, Blood, Chronic illness, Bullying, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child death, Gore, Classism, Animal death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Pregnancy