Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Anna O by Matthew Blake

11 reviews

dblue236's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense slow-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

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This book definitely reminded me of The Silent Patient, though I can honestly say that the slow pace hurt my enjoyment of it a bit. I really loved the ending and that kept me sticking with it, but I do wish it had been a little faster of a read. The characters were intriguing and there were several twists I didn't see coming, and overall it was a worthwhile read even though it felt quite long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore

cmlalonde's review against another edition

2.75

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Medical content, Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity

filipa_maia's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-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

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This book caught me by surprise by being so addictive. Once the story starts to get momentum I couldn't stop reading.

I love the scientific parts. All the cases related to sleepwalking, all the medical aspects of dealing with patients with this condition... it shows an interest and a well conducted research by the author.

The story is great, well thought, a lot of character with well written background stories. I love all the mid-chapters telling the passages from 'Anna's Notebook'.

Was the ending the kill the vibe of this book. Why? It makes no sense. It feels that the author was not happy with the obvious ending and decided to improvise (one thing is when we have all the clues but with don't get them, other thing is straight lie to our faces with those clues).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity

catriona176's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I feel like I’m in the minority in that I was fully engaged for most of the plot, but then the ending completely lost me. There’s suspension of belief and then there’s that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Alcohol

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A great premise that hooked me from the start, a lot of delicious tension and a really fun, twisty plot. There are several character POVs that keep things musterious (speculating about Lola was particularly juicy, though I didn't guess the end). And I loved how the timelines built up a picture that still had some pieces missing by the end.

As for the end, I'm not entirely sure how I felt. It definitely answered all my questions but there were some red herrings that I could tell were misdirecting me, and although I didn't guess the final twist I didn't feel surprised by it. There were a few false endings (where it was clear more was to come) that actually started to drag the story a little for me, and started to lead me towards the twist even if I didn't know what it would be.

A fun read for sure, but didn't feel as punchy in the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent

drybay's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I was hooked! By the end, the book was going towards a dissapointing ending but then it had me pleasantly surprised.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Torture, Death of parent, Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny

tigertheory's review against another edition

3.25

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Started off a bit weak, picked up pace in the middle and crashed and dragged somewhere before the end. A good read, but a tad convoluted for my taste. 

The MC seems to be a self insert for the author – I don’t see any other reason why everyone (including himself) keeps going on about how handsome he is. 

A big part of the narrative depends on the use of gender-neutral pronouns and assumptions about gender roles.

As soon as Harriet refers to her partner by „they“, things were pretty clear and all the puzzle pieces fell into place as the narrative went on.

It’s a bit silly to expect the reader to be led astray by gendered assumptions in a book where all the leading figures are women. 
(Ben is the MC but to call him leading would be a stretch)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Torture, Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Misogyny, Classism

carolinefran's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Pregnancy

aileron's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent

ekilburn529's review against another edition

4.25

challenging tense fast-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

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This book was entertaining. It kept me guessing until the end (I figured out one of the twists early on but there are a few smaller ones sprinkled throughout which I like). Lots of very short chapters and a mix of present and past so the story kept moving. The ending wasn’t my favorite but it’s not the kind of book you get a HEA so that’s fine. I like this authors writing style. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis