Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

62 reviews

fraise's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Suicide

amberjavant's review against another edition

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gun violence and Suicide

bethboo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I really thought that I wasn't going to like this book. The first 2 hours of it had me second guessing whether I wanted to even read it. Maybe I would have felt different if I had ever read Agatha Christie or even knew the story of And Then There Were None. Cause apparently the entire book is a nod to that. But it really pulled me in when we started to get to know the family member. The home movies were always my favorite. The narrator was phenomenal, sounding choked up and adding tears. She was great.
All the characters were horrible people and very cruel in a realistic way. They felt like real people, like I could turn around and google their names and see them in the flesh. That could partly be attributed to the narrator and her success in telling the story but that's one of the main reasons that I liked this book.

The ending. It was horribly unsatisfying and is really coloring my thoughts about the book even though I'm trying not to let it because I enjoyed the twist and turns and writing right up until the last hour or so.
 
 

Ghosts? The HUGE plot twist is...a ghost?? That's like so weird? Like this isn't a fantasy novel or something magical. She was just dead...like huh?? SO fucking disappointing.
It was a big shocker to learn how Daisy had died and it really fit in with the other characters. However, Trixie and Nana being the killers?? *eye roll* You think a tiny 15 yr old girl and an aged 80 yr old woman could move 3 dead bodies of grown adults? Like come on.
And the whole game of killing every hour on the hour and the poems, idk it just felt a little too sadistic and twisted for Trixie and Nana. Especially since their motivation was love. Like I could have believed a crime of passion by Nana, because of her anger at being the last one to know, but the game doesn't really feel realistic for them. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting

uranaishi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Abortion, and Pregnancy

soobooksalot's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Locked room mysteries, meet dysfunctional families. Always a great combination!
 Daisy Darker was my final pick for Spooky Season reading (though really, that doesn't stop year-round). Alice Feeney remains a favourite thriller author with reason!
 Daisy's Nana's island home of Seaglass provides the backdrop for the story, which takes place in the hours leading to Halloween. Members of the Darker family are meeting their demise and secrets from the past may be contributing. 
 Some fantastic atmosphere and reveals here - fans of Agatha Christie and Tessa Wegert will most appreciate!
 Absolutely recommended!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

henyouise's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.25

It feels fitting that I finished this book on Halloween.
It's a great mystery in the style of And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie). And I did not expect the ending, but in a good way. Very spooky read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

julienicole1106's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

i absolutely loved this book. it was like a less racist and homophobic version of And Then We Were None by Agatha Christie. if someone would’ve proposed this book to me i would’ve never read it because the tropes seem cliché and underwhelming. however, the execution was flawless. she delivered these tropes i normally find stupid in such an impressive and compelling way imo. also the end interaction between two of the main characters genuinely brought me to tears. i would ABSOLUTELY recommend this to almost anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

elwan_enchanted's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

3.5

There was a lot I enjoyed about this book, namely the structure and parallels to And Then There Were None.  I anticipated the first twist pretty early into the book, and that was fun.  The part I struggled with was that so much of the end/backstory felt just gratuitously, unnecessarily sad.  For me, it took away from the rest of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

theonlybaillie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Wasn't amazing, wasn't awful.

I enjoyed my time with it, but I wouldn't reread it.

Deeply okay.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail