Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

215 reviews

jlazear's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Felt the twist was pretty predictable but over all a pretty good read 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Drug use, and Drug abuse

soulnius_reads's review

dark 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

dslcer's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

The author has little knowledge of Louisiana, given that there is a crawfish boil in the book where the characters use Old Bay for the seasoning. Old Bay is used for a northern seafood boil, not a Louisiana crawfish boil. Also, she describes bayous as being blue in color, when they are brown.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Murder, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

sdurhamohr's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Murder, and Suicide

coco78337's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Murder, Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Blood, Child death, and Violence

Minor: Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Self harm, Bullying, Vomit, and Stalking

lara_pavlick's review

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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Addiction, and Domestic abuse

janisjay's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse

serenaann's review

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Grief, and Self harm

Minor: Gun violence, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Child death, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, and Toxic relationship

abireadthat's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Wowwwww. Just wow. Honestly so very impressed with A Flicker in The Dark. Willingham truly had me in a complete chokehold with this story.

With being a big thriller and mystery reader anyway, I was fully convinced I had figured out the twist and the way this story had gone but my goodness was I wrong. Stacy needs applauding because I was totally blindsided by what happens.

We meet Chloe Davis, a psychologist who like her patients, suffers from mental health issues. Her father was jailed a twenty something years ago for the murders of some young girls in their home town. All paths lead to him and the man was put behind bars, leaving Chloe and her brother with some psychological trauma, including their poor mother.

Chloe goes down the psychology pathway to help children and teenagers who like her suffered.

I admired her bravery and resilience and noticing smaller things that the detectives had missed, or simply that she didn’t know.

Like with a lot of protagonists in thrillers and mysteries, Chloe decides to stick her nose in once one of her patients goes missing.

I loved how fast paced the story was, and how Stacy had been sneaky with some bits and pieces. It was almost like listening to an unreliable narrator, hence why I was fully convinced my theory was right.

It’s small town, it’s fast paced, it’s twisty and it’s creepy and it truly is the best page turner I’ve read so far this year. 

As a debut novel by Willingham, I am truly impressed with how this book unwound and how the story developed. 

I cannot wait to read more of her works!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Child death, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Drug use

Minor: Mental illness and Drug abuse

author2223's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Self harm, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse