Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

37 reviews

krissysbooked's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Murder

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

jessspeake's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Gaslighting

passionatereader78's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What a ride! I love the way this book was written.  The flow of the story was fantastic and the reveal at the end was great! Daisy has a heart condition.  Her family acts like she doesn't exist. She stays away from everyone except her loving grandmother. On her grandmother's 80th birthday she summons the entire family to her home for one last family celebration. When Daisy's grandmother turns up dead Daisy knows she has to figure out who killed her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, and Pregnancy

mdavis26's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

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

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

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

micaelamariem's review against another edition

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

rose_reads_at_dusk's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I think this is the first thriller I have ever read, and might I just say 🤯
I had guessed quite early on part of the twist but there was definitely some of it that really was shocking 😳

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

ssarahbbeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this. This is a book-lovers book and just completely satisfying. I was a little concerned this would not be an enjoyable read because there were a few characters that were so awful they didn't feel realistic at first. At the beginning, the bigger mystery to me was how they were getting away with behaving the way that they did and not the subsequent bodies piling up. The twist wasn't done just for the sake of having a twist, it is the soul of the story and when I finished I immediately wanted to go back and re-read the book to find all of the breadcrumbs the author left. Every question I had, from the actions of the characters that turned me off so much to the reveal of the mystery was so rewarding. I am glad I stuck with it. After this and Rock Paper Scissors, I think I have found my new favorite author.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, and Car accident

The violence isn't graphic and mostly a description of the aftermath. There is a scene where a 13 year old gets drunk and an older teenager (around 18) manipulates her into kissing him. Not explicit but could be upsetting. The two mothers are emotionally abusive and all around horrible to their daughters.