Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

111 reviews

brookey8888's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.75

I actually enjoyed this a lot. I’m not going to lie some of it didn’t make the most sense and was added just for plot( I’m not going to spoil, but the 20 questions doesn’t make sense with what we learn later to me). I didn’t really guess any of this except one thing which I think was pretty obvious at that point. Charlie is kind of an idiot so if you don’t like reading about characters making stupid decisions then skip this one. That being said I did really like Charlie. 
I’ve said this in at least one of my reviews for Riley Sager, but he has a formula with the males and it’s easy to figure out if they’re going to be “good” or “bad”. As for the ending I liked it, but then something happened and I didn’t really like the “true ending”, which is why I didn’t round up to a four star. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

kimberlyswalters's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Terminal illness, Car accident, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Violence, Mental illness, Gun violence, and Vomit

cryptidonwheels's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Confinement, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death of parent and Death

Minor: Suicide attempt and Cancer

mallory10100's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

oh my GOD???? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Drug abuse, Grief, Medical content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Minor: Body shaming

minimicropup's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Tragic, distressing, suspicious

We follow a University student looking for a rideshare so they can return to their childhood home after their roommate was brutally murdered. They are struggling with the losses and stresses in their life and it affects the decisions they make and how they interpret events. 

• Set in Autumn 1991 on the route from New Jersey to Ohio, USA

Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐺🐕: 

• 🔇 Switched from audio to digital. The narrator and writing style didn't pair well for me. It made everything seem campy and cheesy, and took away from the suspense. That wasn't a problem when I read the text, just when listening. I'm not sure why - narrator wasn't bad, maybe just not nuanced enough?
• Charlie makes some ridiculous choices during the plot. When she's clearly in danger she doesn't try to escape, but when she's not in any obvious danger she's ready to hurl herself out of a moving vehicle. As her character develops we come to understand the reasons for her behaviour and rationale, but there are moments that still felt contrived, particularly as we near the end and get the tea about what is really going on. 
• The ending seemed very cringe, BUT it isn't all that it seems. Can't explain without giving up some spoilers! I thought it was clever, but I could see it being more on the trickster side for some. I think it was justifiable, not lazy - it made me feel differently about the MC and plot.

Cred Rating 🤔: Plausible + Justifiable OTT campiness

Mood Reading Match Up: 

• Touch of '90's teen thriller movie vibes
• Suspenseful slasher turned cat-and-mouse action adventure plot
• Stories with classic Hollywood and cinephile themes
• Character-driven mysteries with unreliable narrators and serial killers

Content Heads-Up: Fire. Vehicle accident (fatalities). Terminal illness (on page). Gun Violence. Kidnapping and confinement. Mental illness (dissociative, hallucinatory, psychosis)

Format: Library Digital via Libby

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

taylorsimon's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This was an easy story to get hooked on. After reading the ending I felt like I should have seen it coming, but I truthfully did not! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit

jj_tj's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Terminal illness and Cancer

rakizaka's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, and Torture

daylateandabookshort's review against another edition

dark slow-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? Yes

1.0

It's a shame Riley Sager is such a one-trick pony because his writing style is great. But it seems like he's stuck on the same overarching plotline. One or both parents of a 20-something girl are dead, she finds herself in a life-or-death situation, and the would-be killer is never who you're led to believe it will be. I have read 3 of his books and can confidently say I won't pick up any more, once you've read one, you've pretty much read them all.

I skimmed the second half of this book because by then I just didn't care, but I didn't to DNF another book. Plot? See above. Characters? Stupid, unlikeable, and boring, again see above. I didn't enjoy this book and I wouldn't recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Murder

Minor: Mental illness, Rape, and Sexism

xiggy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Car accident and Death of parent