Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

25 reviews

leswampwitch's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.5

A well told horror story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent

slimshaedy92's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

There are some cliches here, but overall a pretty effective ghost story once it gets moving. I say that because it definitely took me a couple of days to really get moving on such a thin book mainly because it’s been awhile since I read Gothic horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Death, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

heimax's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, and Death of parent

gothic_moss's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Wow! What a thrilling, horrific ride! I really liked this book's dark Victorian, and Gothic atmosphere/setting. The writing style was perfect-stylish and to the point, and once I started reading, I couldn't stop. I can't decide whether I liked the ending or not though, It was delightfully shocking, but I may have wanted more explanation? I'm not sure to be honest, as I am still processing it. 
If you like Victorian horror, spooky houses, creepy dolls/portraits, family secrets, unreliable narrators, and a non-chronological timeline, you'll love this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

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.

bxnnny's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

1.0

i found the overall plot to be interesting but honestly had a hard time staying focused and i'm not sure if that was a problem with me or the book. it was hard to like elsie because, though she came from a working-class family and had only been married into a more well-off family for a month, she still treated all of the servants, maids, etc. like they were beneath her, which i didn't find to be entirely conducive with her own background and upbringing. all of the twists were easily predictable but i did still find the story generally interesting.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Confinement, and Miscarriage

Minor: Child death, Sexism, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, and Death of parent

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

This was definitely quite creepy and I liked the different timelines, but I'm not sure how I feel about the ending?? 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Stalking

megwilli's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Miscarriage and Child abuse