Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

48 reviews

boo_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

This book is so good OMG!! The plot twists keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the book!!! I love that you can't tell which direction the book is going even towards the end 10/10

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Murder, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship

davidrb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

2.5

Oy vey. Just...not my favorite. Twists weren't fun, story didn't go anywhere...it had some interesting things to say about the lengths that men will go to justify their actions, and then it just didn't use them for anything. But, despite all that, a fun and easy read. Definitely good fodder for this time of year just to get into the mood.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Violence

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

This is my first Riley Sagar novel and this was definitely one heck of a wild ride! From beginning to end, I was caught up in what really happened at Baneberry Hall. Thankfully, Sagar had written Maggie as a realistic main character, suspicious but still willing to set the record straight as far as how past meet the expectations from her father’s book. I totally did not see the wrap up to end the way it did. While some parts of Ewan’s storytelling seemed to be a little hard to get into at times, the present day understandings and piecing together made up for it. Looking forward to reading more from this author! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Child death

chellbear's review against another edition

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Cursing, and Dementia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Vomit, Violence, and Sexual content

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

4.0

I ended up reading all but the first 50 pages in two days, so I have to say that the story sucked me in, and I did not want to stop reading. This book has alternating chapters between the MC's perspective (Maggie), and a book her father wrote about their experiences in the house when Maggie was 5. This style really complemented the two perspectives, and made for a very enjoyable read. 

The book Maggie's father wrote is very much a traditional ghost story, and I was even enjoying it more than Maggie's perspective for a good chunk of the book. It does cross the line into just being silly, so it did start to lose me. The experiences of adult Maggie right away reminded me of a few movies I have seen before, so I was wondering if the book was going to go down that route of horror, which it did in the end. I also ended up guessing another key piece of the plot, so I'd say this is a predictable story if you've seen these sort of twists and turns before. However, I really enjoyed that it felt like I got two stories for the price of one; I'm a sucker for ghost stories. 

The ending felt rushed compared to the rest of the book. It was also quite ridiculous, and I just could not believe how many fakeouts there were. It made the end laughable, which is disappointing considering how much I enjoyed the journey to get there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Grief and Suicide

Minor: Car accident

anna_reads_too_much's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Suicide

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Grief

soppysays's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship