Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe

6 reviews

riale's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.25

Dark, but also inspiring? It's a hard journey, but it's worth it. This book hooked me in, and it affected how I perceive trauma, hope, and love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Stalking, Bullying, Confinement, and Mental illness

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual assault

serial killer

sophievansickle's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

A thoughtful but haunting YA story about trauma and its aftermath. I don't typically enjoy thrillers but this was a quiet character-driven thriller heavily focused on the main character's journey through a traumatic event and how his life is affected after, rather than a story driven by action and plot, and I think this book is better for it. I read Robin Roe's debut shortly after its release and it stuck with me for a long time. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about the resolution, and kind of wished

it had involved clinical therapy and had more resolution with Luke beyond seeing the text messages, but the more I think about it, the more I think it's important to reflect the reality that recovery from trauma is going to be messy and people won't get professional help on the timeline we think they should and people should be allowed to make their own choices on how to move forward because actually it's none of our business

Regardless, I am so pleased that she has delivered with another masterpiece of a story on the topic of trauma and resiliency and if she wasn't already an auto-buy author, she sure is now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping

Moderate: Bullying, Murder, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual assault

lexieellis13's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I have no words. This was my first full read of 2023 and it was just incredible. A sensational purview of trauma and the ways it alters the brain, as well as the range of ways trauma presents in different individuals. I simply cannot describe how the author’s way of writing made me feel like I was spinning around and falling with the main character. It was hard to tell who he was but also not difficult at all.

Incredible❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Mental illness, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Biphobia, Infidelity, and Fatphobia

bimenace's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Bullying, Grief, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Classism, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, Violence, Vomit, Hate crime, Murder, Death of parent, and Drug use

Minor: Gun violence

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was very dark, but also hopeful. And I really enjoyed it. I honestly really disliked Sayers at first, as I think you were supposed to. But he really grew throughout the book and ended up a much better person for the adversity. Though obviously, no one should suffer that, he really needed something drastic to course correct him. Overall a great look at trauma, how people deal with it, and mental health overall. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug use, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Bullying

Moderate: Death and Suicide

Minor: Child death, Murder, and Sexual assault

rhiannonafternoon's review

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This story left me broken hearted, but hopeful. A boy gets kidnapped and loses an entire year inside a dangerous place with a dangerous man. Then trying to assimilate into his “before” life without properly dealing with what happened while he was gone leaves him in shatters.
All of my emotions were firing with every page and I couldn’t stop reading. A really well navigated look at trauma from many angles, and certainly a story you’ll never forget.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Kidnapping, and Confinement

Moderate: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail