Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

22 reviews

bonky24's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness and Child death

Minor: Suicide and Child abuse

wrensleyreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is the book-equivalent of a horror movie. The story worms its way into your head and only after the book is over do you realize there might be some leaps of logic or unanswered questions left dangling.  Go into the book with that mindset and you'll enjoy the ride.  If this ever gets turned into a movie, I'd be too scared to watch it for sure - and that's coming from someone who almost never gets scared by books!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Incest, Pregnancy, and Suicide

Minor: Child death

aloy's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Murder, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Violence, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical content, Gore, Drug use, Classism, Grief, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, and Animal death

Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

pinkyoshi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Grief, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Confinement, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Miscarriage, Death, Vomit, Sexism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, and Animal death

immovabletype's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

this book is perfectly paced and builds tension and fear very well. i admit i'm an easy mark when it comes to haunted houses but fwiw this definitely gave me some real chills. i flew through the last third of the book. unfortunately it fell short of its potential for me. in particular this is a historical, victorian novel steeped in the expectations on women from outside of their control and within themselves - a lot of themes of what it means for a woman to be mad, and it blurs the line a bit. i was into it, and then some reveals happened that seemed to undercut that commentary. by the time it got to its ambiguous ending (ugh) it didn't even have the power to annoy me as much as it usually does because i was already disappointed.

i can't really say much further without spoilering since my gripes hinge on a big twist, but i am going to include them (under spoilers) in my content warnings below.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Classism, Grief, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Gore, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Infertility, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Child abuse, and Drug use

expanding on infertility triggers, as well as additional ableism/disfigurement prejudice: there is a disfigured child who is mute due to a birth defect. it's believed she was born without a tongue because her mother used witchcraft to conceive her when she was unable to conceive. big, plot important spoilers:

this conjecture is 'proven' true; her mother allowed something evil to enter her child when she conceived her outside of natural means.

also beware of many inexplicit mentions of CSA.

a_violentfemme's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. A perfectly written gothic horror for the spooky season! The pacing was excellent and got me on edge til the very end. Purcell balances all the aspects of this haunted house story with skill and I can't wait to read the rest of her catalogue. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Fire/Fire injury

trishalah_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, and Animal death

poetrydragon's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Suicide, Animal death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse

adelinebal4's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Violence, Ableism, Suicide, Animal death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, and Child abuse

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

It was slow moving for me at the start. But once i got about halfway through, it picked up substantially and i zipped through the remainder of the book. Very gothic and atmospheric. The overall mood, especially at the Bridge gives very much Wuthering Heights vibes. Concept is fun and fairly orignal. Very haunting. A little gory without being overly grotesque. Saw the end reveal coming but getting there was fun so i didnt mind. Check trigger warnings for this one cause there are a lot. I will never be okay with a modern book using slurs and stereotypes against Romani people regardless of when the book is set. The plot could have been just as successful without that nonsense so shame to the author for that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide attempt, Racism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gore, Xenophobia, Suicide, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Violence, Miscarriage, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement