Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

21 reviews

emmehooks's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Infidelity

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Child death, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Drug use, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Pregnancy, Abortion, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexual content, Miscarriage, and Panic attacks/disorders

frenchvanillapowdercreamer's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

The best book I’ve read so far this year. Fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Murder, Infidelity, Child death, Death, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, and Chronic illness

Minor: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Suicide

ajpotz's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

3.0

it was like girlboss ish and then like jonnie basically just eating pierce tf up and then like law of assumption from the author

imagine killing someone bc of a fake story someone told

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Cancer and Abortion

itsheyfay's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Violence, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Addiction, Drug use, Child death, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit

ronnieb's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

Trigger Warning: Chronic Sickness, Death of a Child, Drug Abuse

I did not expect this book to work for me as much as it did. After liking “The Wife Upstairs” a lot and being really disappointed by “Reckless Girls” I was not even going to give this one a try. I did not pay attention to the plot at all so when I was looking for a quick audiobook and it was available at my library I decided to just try. Looking into I probably would have found it interesting because it has tropes I love. Friends taking a trip to a secluded location, multiple timelines, those timelines overlapping. These are all classic tropes that get me all the time. 

The back-and-forth tension between the timelines was so exciting and kept me hooked. The frenemy of the Emily/Chess relationship that mirrored the rocky Mari/Laura was a solid narrative choice that keeps the reader engaged but both timelines were distinct enough to not get lost in which POV you were in. The chapters were long and would move back and forth a lot which using the audiobook was easy to track but when reading physically I dislike long chapters so that is something to note that could affect the enjoyment level one may feel. I think the thriller/mystery elements were maybe obvious but added to the tension because you could feel these large confrontations coming it was just a matter of when and what would blow the lid for everything. 

Overall, I loved this. Is it the best, most shocking, well-written mystery-thriller novel? No, but it is fun and quick which will be perfect for Summer beach reads or a quick afternoon read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Drug use and Chronic illness

tamara_joy's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Drug use, Infidelity, and Death

Minor: Child death, Classism, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Chronic illness

nrogers_1030's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Grief, Toxic friendship, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Drug use, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism and Gore

Minor: Terminal illness, Cancer, and Sexual content

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I have mixed feelings about the book. I did like some of the twists and turns, but I wish there had been a chronic illness rep that wasn't

psychosomatic. I also preferred the ending that Mary wrote to

  what the conclusion actually was. Overall it kept me interested but it was disappointing in the end. And a bit predictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Murder, Death, and Infidelity

kleinekita's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Chronic illness

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

The Villa read like a modern gothic, with the atmosphere oppressive, foreboding, with a stunningly described setting that makes you feel like you’re right there with the characters. Rachel Hawkins deftly explores complex friendships, toxic relationships, and creative tension in a way that was so engaging I just didn’t want to put it down. The twists had me absolutely gasping and the dual pov with shifting timelines just added to the dread and drama of each storyline. 

Honestly, this book made me want to go back to Italy so badly! The setting is so well-depicted, it filled me with so much nostalgia for the Italian countryside. I actually studied abroad in a neighbouring province (Arezzo) to Orvieto and I can attest to the landscape and architecture is as described in this novel. And the photo I used is actually one I took a decade ago while on that trip, but on the island of Capri. 

Thank you so much @stmartinspress and @netgalley for a gifted copy of this gem. I loved Reckless Girls by the same author, so I was delighted when my arc application was accepted for this one—and it did not disappoint! 

*A note on the reading format: I did read this book half as an ebook and half on audio, and while both formats were good, I think I preferred it in ebook form, as I wasn’t a huge fan of Mari’s narrator. That being said, Julia Whelan is one of the narrators in this cast, so for those of you who are a fan of hers, you might want to pick up the audio version based on that alone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Chronic illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Blood, Drug use, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Terminal illness