Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

8 reviews

coyotecasket's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

I really liked this book! I've read another of this author's books "All the Dangerous Things" and while I liked that one better, this one was also good. I will say that I didn't really like the characters too much. They were extremely well written, but the main character really annoyed me and made some really bad decisions as the story went on, and it wasn't really in an "unreliable narrator" way like I would have actually enjoyed. The story was extremely compelling though and I found myself not wanting to put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Addiction

Moderate: Sexual assault

brichneyfloss's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

ravenpuff's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

rachelmerrie's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This held my attention the entire time. I loved the mindset it put me in as far as thinking about the relatives of serial killers and the trauma that comes from it. So many twists at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Child death, Murder, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Self harm

melissac0320's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Sexual assault

taelights's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

This book had so many fun and unexpected twists I absolutely loved it. I had thought I figured it out at about 50% in and had two theories I was really leaning towards and just when I thought one of them was it the last twists slapped me so hard out of nowhere. 

I almost gave this book 4 stars due to me being genuinely shocked by the ending but I have settled on 3.75 because I found the main character often annoying me. I thought a lot of her decisions were very dumb and dangerous plus like I get that she has trauma from her childhood but that doesn't excuse her actions or dangerous and illegal practices when it comes to taking pills. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicide, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

amandasbookreview's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

 

Thank you, Stacy Willingham, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book!

“Because for the first time in weeks, someone believes me. Someone is on my side. And it feels so good to be believed; to have someone look at me with genuine caring instead of suspicion or worry or rage.”

A FLICKER IN THE DARK

When Karin Slaughter speaks, you listen. She told her readers to read A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham. I am so glad I did! What an incredible debut! Chloe Davis’ situation is unique. She is the daughter of a serial killer. When she is 12-years-old, six teenage girls go missing in her small town. She is the one who discovers the evidence police need in her own house. Now twenty years later, she is a psychologist. When one girl goes missing, there is concern, and thoughts from the past begin to haunt her. But then one of her patients goes missing, Chloe starts spiraling. Her father is in prison, so is this a copycat?

Trigger Warnings: drug addiction, kidnapping, PTSD, anxiety, murder, sexual assault, suicide

This book is addicting. We often get fictional books that revolve around serial killers or journalists and detectives investigating serial killers–but this book is about a daughter who is directly affected by the actions of her family. This book is suspenseful and filled with tons of twists and turns. Stacy Willingham is great at misdirection! But what really surprised me is that this book is incredibly gut-wrenching and emotional. Chloe had to deal with the realization of her father’s crimes at such a young age. She had to deal with people lashing out against her. She couldn’t have a normal relationship, she felt like she always had to hide her identity. But the guilt eats her alive. She obsesses over the fact that if she did something different, maybe the girls wouldn’t have died. She blames herself—even more so when her patient disappears. My heart absolutely broke for her.

I also love the moments when she claims her voice. She often mentions that she feels that people aren’t listening to her. There is one scene where she is talking to a detective and he keeps interrupting her and she finally shouts, “Will you stop interrupting me!” I wanted to scream, “YES!! Take back your voice!” As a woman, I felt that. Overall, this thriller is setting a very high bar for the rest of the year! I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Suicide attempt

kimveach's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

This was a good-enough thriller, but it could have been a little tighter.  It did keep me guessing from one character to the next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Infidelity, and Self harm

Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual assault