Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson

22 reviews

aylin05's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Before i begin my review of this book i’d like to warn anybody who might care that the book ends on a MASSIVE cliffhanger so be prepared to immediately want to read the next book. 
anyway, the book was wonderful as you’d expect from the first one. similarly to the last one, there’s a lot of just open and random details that were difficult for me to get through. BUT when things started to pick up at certain points i was absolutely ENTRANCED. 
one of the perpetual problems i have with this series, though, is that there are A LOT of characters. There’s a whole number of characters that are from the past (from alberts time) and then even more from the present (from stevie’s time) so it’s a bit confusing when a random name pops up and you have to figure out if it’s stevie’s classmate in bio or her friends friends friend that she met at a party. fr tho i counted and there’s 28 characters that i can name off the top of my head.
anyway, overall, the book was the perfect sequel to the first book. so if you liked the first book you’ll love this one too. its the perfect captivating murder mystery and i’d highly recommend. 
now i’m going to read the next one :)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Grief, and Blood

dylpickles's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

bookishlysophie's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

I can’t not love this series. It’s so well crafted that it has become one of my favourite stories to reread. I’d highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Grief, Blood, and Murder

sankta_aleena's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder

bookishgoob'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

this second book was so much better than the first i’m so glad i continued with it. and the ending!!!! the twists!!!! highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

grimviolins's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Police brutality, Grief, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

kb_sherman's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Okay, I'm very generous here and give it 3,5 stars, rounded up to 4. 

The first 75% of the book were just too boring. I constantly wavered between 2 and 3 stars. I just hate it when characters are placed in a different setting for no reason at all at the beginning of a sequel and then the author spends so much time to get them to the place they need to be (which is the same place they've been before). 

My fav part were the interactions between the friends and although not much else happened plot wise,  these interactions were way too short as well. It was frustrating. 

But then EVERYTHING happened at once in the last 25% of the book, and I almost forgot to breath. There was so much tension that I was afraid of what would happen.... And what happened? A CLIFFHANGER! ARGH! 

As for the revelations. It was the only logical explanation and the only one I had from the beginning of book one basically. And that's okay, because I rather have a foreseeable logical explanation than a shocking one that wasn't set up. 

But then there is still the most interesting part of the mystery left for the next book(s ?) and I'm here for it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Murder

deezy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism

whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

Moderate: Death, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders