Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

4 reviews

planreadrepeat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Anna, a detective specializing in finding missing people, arrives in her hometown to escape a recent, mysterious, tragedy. She reconnects with high school friends and involves herself quickly in a local missing person's case with a history eerily similar to her own. She starts working closely with her friend, Will to investigate all while intertwining her history of childhood, the town, and growing up with her foster parents, Hep and Eden. She also adopts a dog, Cricket. 

It's interesting that the book twists in a real-life missing person case, Polly Klaas, that happened at the same time as the setting of the book in 1993. Sometimes we forget how much more difficult it was to conduct searches and investigations before everything was on the internet and we had cell phones that function as computers. I found the author's note very personal and touching.

There are several content warnings I would give: child abuse, sexual assault, confinement, drug use and overdose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Child death

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Murder, Kidnapping, and Infidelity

Minor: Chronic illness and Mental illness

wonderfulxwonderful's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Rape

bookishfarmwife's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

4.5

Loved this book!  The way Ms. McLain incorporated real-life events into the storyline was exceptional, they added so much context.  I 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Chronic illness, and Drug abuse

lorinew1's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Child death, Child abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Chronic illness, Gun violence, and Grief