Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

168 reviews

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

bittie_bee's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I had the ending figured out within the first 50 pages of the book, but it was still an enjoyable read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Suicide attempt

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

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

emadisonc's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

There are so many subtle ways we women subconsciously protect ourselves throughout the day; protect ourselves from shadows, from unseen predators. From cautionary tales and urban legends. So subtle, in fact, that we hardly even realize we’re doing them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Miscarriage

niclantsov's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

 If you think you figured it out, no you didn't.

Flicker in the Dark follows Chloe, our main character, who had a dark past. Her dad, when she was 12, committed a heinous crime, he murdered 6 teenage girls. Of course that would haunt Chloe for the rest of her life. Then, 20 years later a teenage girl went missing, and that's when her memory resurfaced and she started thinking about what had happened 20 years ago constantly, she thought it was just a coincidence, that she was just haunted by the past.

But it was not. There were just to much similarities between the two cases, one: the murders that her father committed, and two: the disappearance of the young girl, which mark the 20 year anniversary. But her father was in jail, so who was doing these crimes?

In this book you would second guess yourself. You would be drag through Chloe's anxiety and her mental state (her second guessing herself was it paranoia? was it real?) because of what happened to her when she was a child, you would see her cope and finally accept it. Truly the character was amazing.

It started slow, but I promise you the ending would not be disappointing. The pace is fast, a page-turner, and it has less than 400 pages, perfect for a cozy thriller read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Stalking, Murder, and Suicide attempt

sydthewitch's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I love thrillers and I love trying to guess the twists. I did guess the main twist/reveal on about page 72, but even so, there were even more twists and revelations that I absolutely didn't see coming! As each aha is revealed, the clues and foreshadowing earlier in the book fall into place and make total sense, every detail accounted for. 

The characters aren't nece sarily lovable but are deeply imperfect in a relatable way. The author does a great job of depicting CPTSD and other mental health issues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Addiction

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Gaslighting, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, Gun violence, and Violence