Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

62 reviews

cyndi1966's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, and Suicide

micaelamariem's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 

I always surprise myself when I opt to pick up a thriller/mystery, and I surprise myself even more when I actually like it. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney, published by Flatiron Books, was my Book of the Month choice from last summer. 

I think most people, if you aren't me, have heard of Alice Feeney. She was a BBC reporter for fifteen years before finding success in her writing. Since then, her novels have found international success. Daisy Darker is her fifth novel. 

Daisy Darkeris a locked room mystery. When the Darker family returns to a tiny tidal island off of Cornwall to celebrate Nana's 80th birthday, a storm brews both outside and in. At midnight, Nana is found dead. An hour later, the next family member follows. The remaining Darker family need to figure out who is behind the murders or risk not surviving the night. 

"Don't spend all your ambition on other people's dreams." 

This book is clearly a retelling of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and it reminded me of that the whole read. However, some other books that might be similar are The Guest List by Lucy Foley, One by One by Ruth Ware, and The Family Game by Catherine Steadman.  

I really enjoyed this book, despite my general aversion to mysteries. This one was exciting. But beyond that, Alice Feeney has a very prolific writing style. Her sentences are beautiful and calls to something deeper. She is able to have the main character reflect on past traumas and her dysfunctional family and find a deeper meaning in that, even while something nefarious is going on around her. 

Don't get me wrong--even while the main character looks for redeemable qualities in her family, they are still mostly unlikable. Perhaps that is a necessary quality so that the reader doesn't get too sad when/if one of them dies. It did make me sad for the main character however, and the trauma she grew up with. 

The way the plot twist is set up is also very clever. I'm not going to spoil anything, but it's those kind of books where things might start to make sense if you go back through a second time. I'm tempted to. However, I still didn't like the plot twist--it seemed a bit far-fetched and fantastical and I wasn't expecting it (I suppose that's the point of a plot twist--but it was so unexpected that it jerked me out of the story). 

I also loved the parallel of the past and the present so we can see how the whole family got to be as broken as it was. Plus, the flashbacks do provide some vital clues to the killer and motive. Though, I must say, I completely missed it. 

So....due to me being gripped by the story the whole way, the beautiful writing, intense characters but somewhat disappointing plot twist I give this book four stars. And I still do highly recommend it to locked room thriller lovers and anyone that likes things a little creepy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• 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? Yes

4.75

I was extremely into this story, and I appreciated the story the whole way through. The writing may have had a tiny edit for my preference, but I will definitely read this author again. Love a twisty tale.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Classism

natasyareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Body shaming, Gun violence, Rape, and Alcohol

rondasue27's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Violence and Blood

rose_reads_at_dusk's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I think this is the first thriller I have ever read, and might I just say 🤯
I had guessed quite early on part of the twist but there was definitely some of it that really was shocking 😳

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

rachaelbunny's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, and Medical trauma

zalouis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Alcohol

growintogardens's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

Feeney is good at making a creepy atmosphere, and I could visualize the house really well. I didn't love the twist.

It was something I thought about early, but dismissed it. I honestly think this would have been more enjoyable if she had survived instead of becoming a ghost, and lost the memory of the accident. It would have been more creepy and crazy imo, for them to still kill the family members because of Daisy's abuse, which is what I thought before the ghost reveal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Suicide, Grief, and Pregnancy

bubblegirl858's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

For my 2023 rating system I gave this book 4 stars. This book was an amazing read. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I seriously enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on the entire book.

Once I got to the end of the book, I immediately restarted it and tried to make sense of the things that my brain had just auto filled with any family interactions with Daisy. I was literally kicking myself for just not noticing how none of the family interacted with her. I honestly did not see the ending twist at all, and it made the book so much more exciting once everything fell into place in the big "Clue" game they were living. The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars is because of the characters. Some of them were so irredeemable that it made me despise any scene with them and I just couldn't get over it, even if they got their karma. The siblings just causally getting rid of Daisy like that and the parents covering it up? Absolutely deserved everything that happened to them. Amazing writing on Alice Freeney's part, but I just couldn't get over it personally.

Overall, a great read and I would definitely go back and read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Chronic illness, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail