Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Särmikäs Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

193 reviews

dark sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Wow just wow! This book is creepy, riveting and will have you not pause one second!! 
Strange Sally Diamond is absolutely beautifully written. From the plot to character development, chefs kiss. This is not a story for everyone, it is very dark. Although a lot of people did not like the ending I appreciated the realism behind a not so happy ending, that’s life.
Sally Diamond is the product of a pedophile who kidnapped her mother who was an 11 year old. You go through the trauma and “social deficiencies” Sally struggles with as she just learns she was adopted by the two psychologists that helped her and her mother adapt into society once found. Not only do you hear the story of Sally but also have the chance to learn about Sally’s older sibling who is also a product of rape and lived with Sally until she was found but was treated completely different. 
This book is haunting and will stay with me for a while. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really enjoyed this book. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I feel like the ending was very abrupt. It felt unfinished. Sally Diamond is the daughter of an abducted girl and a pedophile. Her psychiatrist adopted parents kept her sheltered and thus she was very quiet and reserved. She had severe social anxiety and pretended she was deaf to prevent people from talking to her. When her father died, she had to learn to adapt to life without people around her. She sought out therapy and slowly overcame her social awkwardness and learned more about what was appropriate to talk about with other people. 
After hearing of Sally's father's death, her estranged brother, Peter (also with the same mother) found Sally and met with her about their tortured past. He had escaped to New Zealand with his father (the abductor/pedophile). While in New Zealand, their father had abducted another girl and kept her in their barn. The dad died in a car crash and Peter decided it was safer if he just kept the girl for himself. They fell in love and had a baby, but Peter took the baby and left it at a church. She eventually died of appendicitis which left Peter alone to think about his past which led him to seek out Sally. 
The ending felt unfinished.
Peter escaped again, Sally was back to being isolated, and Peter's daughter was living a normal healthy happy life in New Zealand

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I enjoyed this "true crime" style of storytelling, even though the pacing was quite slow to start, it picked up about halfway through the book.

Told from 2 POVs, there was strong character development throughout the course of the book. It was let down by the sadder final chapters that suggested nobody can truly escape their intrinsic inner beliefs held since childhood.

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dark tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This veered too close to trauma corn for me, not to mention the ending practically tripping over itself. This could've been a lot more meaningful if it had been a solid discussion about generational trauma, and about the struggles of dealing with personal trauma, but no. Just read The Room instead.

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I loved this book. It was dark, intense, terrifying and then sometimes funny too! 
A mixture of a loveable character & a character you don’t know how to feel about. 
Some very terrifying moments so be warned. 


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark sad tense
Strong character development: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings