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addiemidala's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Rape and Grief
fictionalalex's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
3.0
“Grief is like a series of bombs exploding, one after another. Every hour, a new detonation. Shock after shock after shock.”
Another bookstagram-made-me-do-it! I picked this one up a few weeks ago as an audiobook but did not get into it. When my library director suggested it for my book club's August pick, I thought "why not"?
But to be honest, this one just flopped for me.
I loved the premise. A creepy, sanatorium-turned-hotel on a remote mountain in the Swiss Alps. A murder, an avalanche. Super spooky!
But I did not love what was done with the premise. I felt that besides that, there was no real atmosphere to the hotel or book. I didn't feel situated in the novel.
The main character, Elin, was not my favourite. I struggled to relate to her. And I found myself constantly thinking "why are you telling people what you have found out?" I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and ask if her brother/boyfriend/hotel staff really needed to hear all the information of the investigation, considering they still counted as suspects.
The other characters felt flat to me. And that really contributed to the ending. It just didn't work. It felt kind of out of place.
Overall, it as an okay read. I just couldn't really get into it.
Another bookstagram-made-me-do-it! I picked this one up a few weeks ago as an audiobook but did not get into it. When my library director suggested it for my book club's August pick, I thought "why not"?
But to be honest, this one just flopped for me.
I loved the premise. A creepy, sanatorium-turned-hotel on a remote mountain in the Swiss Alps. A murder, an avalanche. Super spooky!
But I did not love what was done with the premise. I felt that besides that, there was no real atmosphere to the hotel or book. I didn't feel situated in the novel.
The main character, Elin, was not my favourite. I struggled to relate to her. And I found myself constantly thinking "why are you telling people what you have found out?" I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and ask if her brother/boyfriend/hotel staff really needed to hear all the information of the investigation, considering they still counted as suspects.
The other characters felt flat to me. And that really contributed to the ending. It just didn't work. It felt kind of out of place.
Overall, it as an okay read. I just couldn't really get into it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Rape
laurenyawney'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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Murder
fungivibes's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
2.5
I really did not enjoy this one. I didn't like any of the characters and I found the main character completely unbelievable at all as a detective, even one on break for psychological reasons. She made a lot of stupid mistakes and missed very obvious clues. Also I found the writer had a problem with telling instead of showing and I felt like the plot really dragged and could have been cut down some
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Abortion
emmjay's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-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
2.5
I mean, I read it. Had this not been for a book club I tremendously enjoy I probably would have given up around the 20% mark. I just didn’t care for any of the characters. The mystery wasn’t holding my attention, because until the halfway mark there was very little mystery. And I found the writing mediocre. I suppose the writer may have backed herself into a corner on this one, there are only so many ways to describe snow, after all. However, that is no excuse for the phrase “ his/her hair was scraped away from his/her face” being used upwards of 5 times. We also got several people looking at their own reflections and describing their physical appearance to themselves in classic literary cliche.
Took about halfway for what felt like the “real” mystery plot to kick in. The majority before it feels like a lot of subplot that gets relatively little payout.
After the halfway mark each chapter follows the same pattern: the main character suspects someone of hiding something, she confronts them, there is expository dialog, the character thinks to herself— by stating each time she is thinking to herself— can it be true? What are they hiding? I need to know more. I have a hunch but am I right? I don’t know enough yet. She’ll start to have a thought, it will be described as her having a thought, but then “the fragments” will “drift away.” Every. Single. Time. No clues given to the reader. Then the chapter ends with her seeing something shocking that won’t be revealed until the start of the next chapter. Rinse and repeat until the end. If you’ve read this paragraph, you’ve now read a huge chunk of the book.
Handily the culprit does do an extremely long explanatory monologue at the very end that lays out every (often quite flimsy) motivation AND tries to shoehorn in a message not present in the rest of the book, AND our cop protagonist just stands there and listens to them, so there’s that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Rape, Violence, and Blood
nonbinarylibrarianwitch's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
jpellwood's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Rape
myra_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Grief
hanahf's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder
kyle_sjs's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
1.0
I only finished this book because I spent an Audible credit on it, and I did so by listening to it on 2x speed. Elin was an insufferable main character. The plot twists do not follow logically--I understand not wanting to be predictable, but the author made it way too complex for it to be enjoyable. And the resolution of the subplot about Elin's past was so disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Torture, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent