Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

8 reviews

manders_panda's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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: Violence, Stalking, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Sexual content, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Alcohol

keiraonyxraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5 stars 

 

Dark Matter is a gripping sci-fi thriller filled with scientific theories, unexpected dangers and emotional turmoil. The Novel follows our main character, Jason, after he is abducted by a masked stranger and his ordinary cosy life is suddenly snatched away. Jason would do anything to return to his beloved wife, Daniela, and son, Charlie, but now they are worlds apart and separated by an infinite number of choices. 

 

I adored this novel. It had me on the edge of my seat, gasping in shock and even in tears from the sheer emotion of Jason’s situation. I was simply gripped from the beginning, from the perfect blend of thriller, action and heart this novel contained. Not only did Crouch create an interesting and compelling story, they also managed to portray the hopelessness and agony of losing a loved one and the lengths humans would go to be reunited with the people they care about most. It’s not easy to get a reader to truly care about fictional characters but I really related to Jason and felt genuine sympathy and heartbreak for his character. For all this, I have nothing but praise for this novel and the author.

 

Overall this was a fantastic read and I would highly recommend this novel to any readers with even a passing interest in science fiction, thrillers or the horror of true infinity.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

hollaylonn's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer

amsswim's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is science fiction I would recommend to everyone. Great read. Makes you reflect on everything you have done in your life as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Car accident

ababytapir's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Like Recursion, Dark Matter is fantastically mind-bending and all too easy to read in a day. It's incredibly violent and thought provoking. If you like your sci fi thrillers tinged with horror, existential dread and romance, this is the book for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Cancer, Rape, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

If you struggle with derealisation, dissociation or depersonalisation, or any sort of identify disorder, this book could potentially be incredibly triggering. Proceed with extreme caution. Violence warning: There is an incredibly detailed description of a gory epidemic/pandemic. There are multiple gory descriptions of dead bodies, murder, and horrific natural disasters. There is a long kidnapping scene. There's multiple instances of stalking.

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.75

The good:  I enjoyed the UberChat.  I felt that right when that was introduced a different ending could have spawned that turned into a lighthearted rom-com and I like to imagine that.

The bad:  I knew pretty early on that this was not going to be a favorite.  I don't read a lot of thrillers in general but I enjoy sci-fi so I figured I would give it a shot.  I couldn't stand the main character.  And thus, the book was doomed in my eyes.  The pacing was jumpy, and the plot was predictable (as in, I guessed what really happened in the first chapter and the main character didn't figure it out until the ~50% mark).  There was some promise for some thoughtful introspection but the approach was heavy-handed at best.  Some of the descriptions were vivid and others were flat out whacky.

I don't know if I will try another book by the author, but I don't think I was the intended audience for this work so who knows what the future holds.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Blake Crouch.... Blake Crouch, man....
I... I have no words. 
This is a mindfuck movie in book form. 
So, I was intrigued at the beginning. Then absolutely in love with the whole middle part. And I hated the last part. Well, hated is maybe a little too strong of a word. Let's say it was already a mind blowing book but then Crouch went one step too far for my taste and it was a little too hard to process for me to fully enjoy that part. I'll give bonus points here though because I really didn't see some of the things coming. And the ending was in fact... good? It made sense for the plot and wrapped things up satisfyingly. Which I was not counting on tbh. 
Despite my personal issues with it, this is an amazing book as a whole. Its a super fast paced Sci-Fi/Thriller with a cool story and cool settings. It's very action packed which I usually don't enjoy, but I guess Blake Crouch books are an exception to this rule now, because I really like his action sequences. Maybe because they are still clear and easy to process/imagine and just fit so well with the story. 
On the other hand it explores some super interesting themes. Who are we, what exactly makes us the individuals we are? Are there decisions we regret and would we change them if we had a chance? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

colleenward_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

What. The. F❌❌❌.
Okay, I loved this book so much! I’m going through a period in time where the message of this plot really hit home and I appreciated it a lot —> What if you could do your life differently?

Blake Crouch delivers a mind-bending plot which moves the story along and keeps you wondering how everything will play out. 10/10 recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, and Abortion