Reviews tagging 'Grief'

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

86 reviews

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

Isabelle's son goes missing and she will stop at nothing until she finds him. 

This one pulled me right. We follow Isabelle, an mother whose son is missing, she is grieving, suffering from PTSD, and barely sleeping. She is the definition of an unreliable narrator, yet you want to believe her. We are steeped in her grief and paranoia. You are right with her the entire time picking apart the pieces and trying to make sense of it all. 

There are definitely a few red herrings along the way. Did she do something to him while sleep walking? Was it her narcissistic husband? Is Whalen the guilty one? Was it the creepy man down the street? What are the cops hiding? 

We find out that when she was younger, Isabelle had a history of sleep walking. One night her sister died in the marshes behind the house.

We are lead to think that  Isabelle lead her to her death and that she killed her son while sleep walking. Then we find out that it was actually her mother, suffering from severe PPD who was guilty. She has planned to kill herself and her 2 daughters, but only the one daughter died.

The whole time I thought it was the husband.

He is obviously a narcissist, possibly sociopath who is manipulative, controlling, and gaslights everyone. He is always on the hunt for a younger version of his wife. His first wife died of suicide while pregnant and then his son with his second wife goes missing while he is in the throws of an affair with a younger model. Convenient or guilty? Well he is certainly guilty of something, but not of killing his son.

I was shocked when

it was revealed that it was the girlfriend who kidnapped her son! I was not expecting that at all. She was jealous and wanted Isabelle out of the picture, so she took the child and gave him to a woman to raise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Misogyny

colorcrystals's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Kidnapping, Child death, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Grief, Pregnancy, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicide attempt, Violence, and Infertility

princess_marie'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Grief, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, and Infidelity

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Child death

Minor: Blood, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Suicide

armstmad's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Gaslighting, Suicide, Grief, and Kidnapping

lindsayvale's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Child death, and Infidelity

Minor: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcoholism

spellbindingtomes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

shirleonelsie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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 is a heavy book. Right off the bat, trigger warnings related to death and motherhood. I don't want to give too much away since much of the red herrings and reveals are tied into the exact triggers. But if you struggle with anything in those two categories, tread lightly with this book. Look at other reviews if you need more information or find a site that will give you more exact trigger warnings. 

Despite the heaviness of the plot, this book was very good. I could feel the desperation that Izzy felt - the desire for her son and the desire to sleep. Both were strong but one moreso then the other, keeping her from getting the rest she needed to see things more clearly. 

I liked the duel timelines going on - giving a little bit more of a richness to the story that otherwise would have been a little too chaotic without explanation.

There were many strings in this story going in many different directions but as soon as the author started tying them together, a nice neat little bow formed and I felt that the ending was earned. 

My only complaint is the overuse of "hands punched in my pockets." The image of this is odd but when used more then once it was jarring to come across it often.

(Thos review will pop up on other apps too!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, and Mental illness

mamatrader'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: Pregnancy, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, Kidnapping, Child death, and Death

chocolateturtle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

throwback682's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It’s so hard to describe this book (or even give trigger warnings) without also giving spoilers. 

I think the author did a really good job of keeping you guessing and adding plenty of twists without it being heavy handed or corny. The narrator is both deeply sympathetic and deeply unsympathetic at the same time somehow. This was one I couldn’t put down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Suicide, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Mental illness, Death, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, and Stalking

It’s hard to give TW without spoiling but many of the major trigger warnings surround motherhood in some way