Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

81 reviews

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

aweso10's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

3.0

lots of twist and turns, i'll give it that!! i felt like something was missing here, however. it wasn't quite as "thriller-y" as i'd hoped, like it didn't get my pulse racing as much as a good thriller does usually, but i found it a quick and entertaining read nonetheless. the characters were a bit annoying, but i liked the old hollywood kind of theme and 90's east coast setting... so definitely pros and cons!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

laceystairs's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Another great thriller from Sager.

After all the true crime I consume, this fiction felt really intense. I just kept gong because I knew Charlie was in danger and wanted her to be able to escape. 

This novel was suspenseful and dark. I really enjoyed it and so far it's my favorite thriller of 2023

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Stalking, and Gun violence

Minor: Death of parent and Cancer

fraise'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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Ableism, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident, Cancer, Torture, Terminal illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Rape

laurenvoice's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

Survive the Night was a tense and thrilling read with plenty of twists and turns!

The leading characters in Survive the Night were well-rounded, and you could feel their emotions through the words on the pages. Charlie's character development was phenomenal, although she should have trusted her gut instincts more. And Josh’s character was interesting; the web of lies he spun and that killer vibe he had was a nice touch; it made some of the twists and turns this story took more surprising.

Marge’s character introduction was a surprise, I thought she would slow the story down a bit, but no, she added more depth to Maddy. And she helped not only Charlie’s character development but the story's development too. Thanks to the detour to the Skyline Grille, we saw some great twists within the story and some tense scenes for Charlie and Josh.

It would have been great to get an insight into Maddy's and Robbie's characters without Charlie’s rose-tinted glasses, although the end hinted that they were different to how Charlie described and saw them. However, Charlie being an unreliable narrator made Survive the Night fun, as it was impossible to predict what was coming next!

The end chapter was proof that we should not trust the whole story. Charlie reveals that this was a movie based on her real life, but the director embellished the story for a more dramatic effect. The nineties setting was fun, and the repeated plays of the song Come as You Are were a nice touch. However, what made Survive the Night stand out was that Sager wrote it like a movie.

However, if I had to nitpick, it would be how Josh gaslighting and manipulating Charlie was forgiven too quickly and never addressed properly between both characters. Also, I found the final showdown and revelation of the Campus Killer seemed rather rushed when considering how well-paced some of the other events in the book were.

Survive the Night is the second book I have read by Riley Sager, the first being Final Girls, and I am shocked by the number of dislikes his books have gotten because the two books I have read have hooked me. I have been putting off reading most of his because of the negative reviews, but I am glad Survive the Night premise looked too good to miss, as it was an incredible journey filled with movie magic! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

shelfofunread's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

kayelina's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

2.0

How many times did the author use the word “movie” in this novel? My god it was like her entire personality this cinephile trait of her’s. The plot was predictable and the suspense was not suspense-ing like I know Riley can usually do and bring. Not his best.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Minor: Blood, Mental illness, Suicide, Cancer, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Gaslighting, Car accident, and Death of parent

pulpandprose's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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

2.5

Charlie is struggling after her friend is murdered and accepts a ride home from school from a stranger.

She spends the drive being manipulated by Josh while trying to piece together what was real and what is in her head. Due to the "movies" in her head, Charlie is a very unreliable character. I found the first half + of this book to be pretty boring. It's a lot of Charlie questioning her sanity and going back and forth of whether or not she thinks Josh is guilty. 

Towards the end of the book, it picked up a bit, but overall, I found this book pretty predictable. The twist that she was kidnapped by Maddie's grandmother was an interesting spin, but turned out to be pretty lackluster.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Gun violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

mrsmonty503's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

4.5⭐️

This was fast paced and kept me on my toes. It had turns and twists and the ending was written well. Very satisfied with this read. 

Novice Path- 
Obsidian Falls: Thriller/mystery 

#orilium

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, Death, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt