Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

107 reviews

marissa_nancy_nicole's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death, Mental illness, Confinement, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Torture, Physical abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Gun violence, Vomit, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

jane_moriarty's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

1.0

Charlie, our main character, is not like the other girls. No, Charlie is way dumber. In fact she is so stupid that only a man could have written her. I mean what woman in the universe would get into a car with a total stranger to drive through an isolated mountain area in the middle of the night, and only hours into the drive stops to consider that this man might want to rape or murder her? Let alone what woman whose roommate was murdered mere weeks ago by a so called 'campus killer' who she knows is still on the loose? After he's been basically given her hints the whole time that he is a shady bastard? She didn't check his license plate??

What started as a mediocre thriller with a decent premise took absolutely ridiculous turns in the second half. And not in a fun way. The story could have been ridiculous but thrilling, with the opportunity for an interesting cat and mouse game. But the writing is just lazy, the plot twists make no sense, the bad guys are laughable, and the final ending... I don't wanna spoil it, but let's just say Charlie went all in for the grand finale of stupid, stupid life choices.

This was my second Riley Sager book and it was even worse than Final Girls, so I think I should just call it quits.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent and Car accident

lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I didn't know what to expect going in, I've really liked Riley Sager in the past but I've also heard some not so great reviews about this one of his. I did however end up really enjoying it.

I'll admit that I was initially hesitant going in and it did start off slightly silly with the way the 'movies' in her head were described, but it made more sense the further in it gets, and I don't think there's anything wrong with a little bit of silliness in a thriller. It was fun, it was fast and tense throughout, and well paced in how the story was told. The plot drove the story but the characters definitely added to it and I enjoyed spending time in our main characters head. 

Overall I really good time, a solid thriller, and I'm really glad I read it despite the negative reviews.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Car accident

Minor: Death of parent, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Torture, Vomit, and Murder

kerrymwhite's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

very solid thriller. timeline takes place over one night,  a few different view points. very twisty - some insane, some shocking. definitely recommend

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Cancer, Suicide, Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Terminal illness, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

paigew1226's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.5

Oh how I wanted to like this book, but everything was just so meh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting

jess4276's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The first 3/4 of this book was slow. The plot twists were nicely done. There are 3 major plot twists: the first was a good twist, the second was kind of meh, but the third....I literally gasped out loud. I'm good at figuring stuff out early in books but this third twist threw me and that is the main reason I rated the book as high as I did. I rate books based on how entertained I was and the fact that an author could make me gasp took it from a 3 star to a 4 star. But I wouldn't recommend it just for that twist. Overall, it was about a 3. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Murder, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Torture, and Car accident

sage_alexandra's review against another edition

mysterious tense

• 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? It's complicated

3.0

Overall:  loved the set-up of the chapters, good descriptions

Truly couldn't stand the first half of the book. The main character ignored all of the red flags, and then, when she found out certain information,

she would just confront the alleged serial killer directly

. I had to pause the audio book to scream way too many times (in frustration)

I was reeled back in by the second half though. Less 'screaming at the girl running up the stairs instead of out the front door' vibes. More plot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Grief, and Confinement

Moderate: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Gore, Car accident, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

thejenstamps's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

“Movie magic. It’s a palpable thing.”

Riley Sager takes us on another wild ride full of twists we saw coming and several that came out of nowhere. 

I’d label  this more of a horror/thriller rather than mystery/thriller like his other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Death

Minor: Torture

thebookaddict's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring 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? No

3.5

🇳🇱: een goed boek met de nodige spanning. Er gebeurt heel veel en door de schrijfwijze lees je hem zo weg. Ik zag het plot niet aankomen , ondanks dat ik dat vaak wel in de gaten heb. Ik heb het boek de laatste twee dagen amper weg kunnen leggen zo spannend was het. Het is ook een orgineel concept. Wel vond ik de films in haar hoofd zelf wat verwarrend, ik wist zelf niet meer wat echt was en niet. Doordat er zoveel gebeurde raakte ik soms ook de draad kwijt. Al met al een goed boek met snijdende spanning


 🇬🇧: a good book with the necessary tension. A lot happens and the writing makes it easy to read. I didn't see the plot coming, even though I often notice it. I could hardly put the book down the last two days, it was so exciting. It is also an original concept. I did find the films in her head a bit confusing, I no longer knew what was real and what was not. Because so much was happening, I sometimes lost track. All in all a good book with cutting tension

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Suicide attempt, Torture, Medical trauma, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

sonygaystation's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I’m really not sure what I expected but I was curious how an entire book could be set just on a road trip with a potential serial killer while still being interesting. For someone who often guesses what happens/twists/etc easily and early on, this book caught me off guard. I had a fun time although it did feel flat in some places (ie the ending and certain characters) and rushed in others. I’d read it again just to see what it’s like knowing everything you know after finishing the book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Suicide attempt, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts