Reviews with content warning for Stalking - The Sanatorium

Really interesting murder mystery. I didn’t know the bad guy until it was revealed and honestly hadn’t even considered the culprit for that role. I couldn’t put this one down — stayed up til the wee hours reading.

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magical_mads's review

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dark mysterious 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

1.5

The characters were very unlikable and frustrating. There were at least four or five plot twists within the last 100 pages. The motivations behind the murders made no sense. And then there was a feminist twist thrown in at the very end so that the author could make some social commentary or some thing, which was handled very poorly (in my opinion). I’m so disappointed because this kind of premise/commentary is 100% sent the thing that I normally go for. But this book is a no for me.

Also, I hated how in the topic of rape was treated in this book. It felt like it was shoved in as a last minute plot twist. It should never be treated like that.

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rochelleisreading's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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jamiejanae_6's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.0

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booking_along's review against another edition

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dark informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

this was a very well written, thought out and executed mystery thriller.

first -since that’s something i always have to mention and it’s one of the few times i have to applaud the author for her good work with it!- this book has french and german in it since it takes place in Switzerland and that make sense, and it’s very well done! both language where perfectly translated!
i have to be loud and happy about that because it’s sadly so rare to have a well done translation in a book but in this one? perfect! was it just a handful of moments throughout this entire book? yes. did i notice it anyways and how well it was done? yes! so high praise to the author for actually doing a good job with the details!

okay rest of the actual book!

the crime elements?
super interesting and very well timed and spaced out.
the entire setting and how the details how to all connects are so well done.

how the main character had her own struggles and how that work for and against her pretty equally and made her even more realistic and human-like.

i enjoy how this whole book was solved and wrapped up and the entire build up to it and all that, well done.

the book kept me second guessing who the bad guy is and why it is all happening? it made sense and while i didn’t really think anyone could have really followed all the clues and go the bad guy at the end of it with how this book as done up, that’s not a negative with how it was all wrapped up.

and the entire thing with the crappy masks? that just added to the entire creepiness throughout the book.

what i didn’t love was the plot point of elin‘s childhood and her brothers. i get that it added a layer to the character and it worked with her doubting herself and her ability to work as well as trusting in general but i also thing the entire Sam plot could have been skipped and it would haven’t made a large difference since Elin did have a traumatic work situation that would have worked just as well?
it wasn’t a huge deal but i didn’t love the entire plot point of Sam and how that was wrapped up.

i also didn’t see the necessity of the epilogue.
it’s just there to throw this huge question mark into it all or make the reader curious about the next installment of the series to see what’s going to happen with that.
and i see how that might work with some readers but i personally dislike that. i want crime/thriller/mystery series wrapped up in each book individually and just want to continue reading because the characters are so fantastic that i want to continue reading about them and keep coming back to them like meeting up with an old friend on a way.
i don’t need some kind of strange teaser thingy that makes me question what’s going on.
personal thing through.

overall?

this was great.
well written, well build up of tension and thrill with slight horrific elements thrown in and good characters.

if you want slower build up to your thrill and don’t mind a bit of jump scare and dangerous setting?
this is a great one!

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