Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Sanatorium

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

36 reviews

books4em's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I look forward to reading the next Detective Elin Warner novel by Sarah Pearse! The Sanatorium was a very good psychological thriller. I enjoyed the quick pacing and appreciated the short chapters (388 pages and 92 chapters) - made it easy to get through. I also enjoyed that we had the classic psychological thriller multi-plot style and liked how we had character and relationship development along one storyline and then we had another storyline following these exceedingly gruesome murders. Pearse also did a nice job of incorporating the setting into the story as if it was a character itself - it definitely added to the eeriness of the murders and story overall. I do have some questions at the end though with some of the connections. And the ending lends the reader to believe Elin isn't going back to the police force, but then Pearse's next book's blurb is about Detective Elin Warner being on a case so I'm not sure what happens there. Also the epilogue...need answers! Overall very good!

Content Warnings

madlain's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

Content Warnings

notsoquietgrrl's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I suspected, going into this book, that the setting of a sanatorium and the related subject matter might be poorly handled, and sadly that suspicion turned out to be correct.

It’s definitely an intriguing setting, and as we learn more about the gruesome past of the sanatorium, and the egomaniacal hotelier’s determination to obscure it, I really hoped the conclusion, and the string of murders, would lead to something a bit more complex and interesting.

Instead, the explanation relies on one of the worst tropes in thrillers,

the rape victim/mentally ill person turned murderer. In this case, we have both. The most ridiculous part? Despite the fact that both murderers claim that they are acting in the name of women victims, all but one of the murder victims in this book is a woman. Make it make sense! The author seems to want to examine the theme of control over women’s bodies, but decides to also have three women be graphically and brutally murdered (by other women!). The Scooby Doo style confession at the end topped it all off. Also, nail polish?!

Some positive points to end on. The writing style felt tight until the last 15%, and I actually didn’t guess exactly what was going on until the end, so it kept me entertained at least.

Content Warnings