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cursed_sapphire's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, and Medical trauma
Minor: Rape
brittanyswens's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder
moeisme1972's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Abortion
thexwalrus's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
pearse is brilliant at crafting atmosphere and describing imagery in a way that makes it all feel extremely real. i could hear the wet-sounding wheezing behind the mask of the murderer each time it was mentioned and i could feel that tense energy that comes with watching a blizzard unfold outside your window. she chose an awesome location and a fantastic, thrilling plot and combined them perfectly.
the sanatorium setting was eerie in its own unique way, despite the renovations it had gone through. abandoned sanatoriums and asylums are my #1 most feared horror location, so that may be biased, but pearse did some great research into what made sanatoriums work in treating TB and used that to her advantage! it was great to see things like big windows and wide open spaces be used effectively in horror like this.
i ended up loving the main crew of characters so much more than i expected to, and the plot kept me guessing until the final reveal happened. this was such a fun winter read and i cannot wait to read pearse’s next book.
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Rape and Torture
spenny21's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Torture, and Abortion
brennap6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The main character was such a bad detective it was unbearable.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Torture, and Murder
elyssajoh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Abortion, and Murder
starrysteph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The setting is a Sanatorium with a dark history (now converted into a modern hotel), hidden deep in the snowy mountains with shoddy cell service and avalanches barring escape. Sounds terrifying, right? Not here.
The pacing was maddeningly slow, the character development was nonexistent, and the men were walking red flags. The reason this is two stars instead of one is because I did appreciate some of the descriptive writing & as mentioned above, thought the concept was excellent.
Our main character, a detective dealing with lifelong panic attacks (starting with the death of her little brother as a child and amplified after a botched case), is shockingly inept. She does ... well .. just about everything wrong during her "investigation". And she is on the verge of tears throughout most of it, doubting herself and whining about her situation. I did not believe Elin was ever a detective (more like a casual true crime podcast listener).
Onto the mystery itself, which was painfully drawn out and filled with common tropes.
No spoilers, but the killer reveal and motivation was baffling. Totally far fetched - and the "clues" were ridiculous. Then, there's a tacked-on epilogue with a cliffhanger clearly intended to leave readers craving more Elin (it didn't work).
This should have been a super high stakes read, and the setting should have been actually utilized (why wasn't the Sanatorium given any characterization?). It's too bad.
CW: murder, death, medical trauma, child death, rape, panic attacks, abortion, kidnapping, confinement, force institutionalization, psychosis, mental illness, torture
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident
selenatothemax's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
_terah_hansen_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Forced institutionalization