Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

22 reviews

ekmook's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Blood, Confinement, Medical content, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexism

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Death of parent

parkerknoll's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

Incredible writing, suspense building, and pacing. Interesting mystery thriller that doesn’t use all the usual tropes  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Murder, Blood, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Torture, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Confinement, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Sexual harassment

scburhans's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Overall, a really good mystery/thriller! There was just a few things that bugged me enough to drop it from 5 stars to 4.
My biggest worry when starting this book was how Pearse was going to use the setting of the Sanatorium. Sanatoriums/Asylums are big staples in suspense and horror, so there are a lot of different ways for the setting to become tropey/unoriginal/uninteresting. I though that turning the sanatorium into a hotel added an interesting twist while adding a nice element of social horror as well - trying to (sometimes literally) whitewash the past. Similarly, I thought that most of the characters were really complex and compelling. There were a few things that confused me, but I'm assuming that's due to the cultural barrier going on here. The plot was paced well and engaging, and I think that Pearse added a lot of rich detail to her characters and world building. A also appreciated the little nods to actual sanatorium design as well as the rather colorful and often brutal histories of asylums around the world. For a debut book, I think it's really good!
I did have a few issues pertaining to the psychology of the suspects and perpetraitors. Some of their actions and ways they acted and reacted didn't make sense from a psychological perspective. They were common mistakes, but they still bugged me. Similarly, I had a few issues with details of the crime. I simply cannot find what type of respirator/mask the perpetraitor used anywhere on the internet. The closest thing I can find is a WWII era gas mask/respirator, but the tubing still connects to an outiside box, not the mask itself. I'm really curious as to if Pearse made that device up or if it's actually based on a real respirator that I can't seem to find. There were a lot of horrifying looking devices used back then that would have worked for a signature, so I find it a bit odd that she (seemlingly) chose to make something up instead. It's a small detail, but it still pulled me out of the story a bit.
Overall, a pretty good book! I'd defintely reccommend it to my friends and I'll probably read it's upcoming sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Stalking, Sexual assault, Cancer, Sexual violence, Confinement, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

ceci_cc's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

katymat18's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Blood, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

Minor: Rape and Abortion

spookily's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit

nodogsonthemoon's review

dark mysterious fast-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture

Minor: Abortion, Infertility, Murder, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

leahlovesloslibros's review

I think this book had promise, but I just really couldn't get into it. Every time I listened I found myself struggling to keep track of both the characters and the plot because my mind was wandering. Maybe I wasn't in the right head space for it and I'd like it better at another time; maybe not. Either way, I'm considering this one a DNF (which I basically never do, thanks to my OCD).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Mental illness

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Gore, Medical trauma, Rape, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

kizzy's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Medical content, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent