Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

18 reviews

vj_thompson's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I would totally read a spin-off series where Carly solves missing persons cases. Overall loved the writing and the story. There were so many good moments, and I was on the edge of my seat reading this book. Will be reading more of Simone St. James’s novels. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Infidelity, Stalking, Violence, Addiction, and Blood

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Bullying, Eating disorder, Sexism, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Racism

librarymouse's review

dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! The setting, in particular, was really strong and the transitions between 1982 and 2017 were really tangible. Some of the characters were so pleasantly strange in a very human way. The juxtaposing of Nick, the former delinquent Carly meets as an under the table resident of a run down motel with Callum, the library volunteer who's way too invested in her search for what happened to her aunt is really well done.

Overall, this book was really fucking weird in a highly consumable way.

there was some things that felt like compulsory heterosexuality on my first read through, but to be honest, I think I've just been reading a lot of queer stuff recently, and all this book did was clearly characterize Carly as straight. Vic's cancer coming back at the end of the book, so close to her saying she's cancer free and learning her sister also died of cancer felt a bit out of place to me, but it's also real life and real life issues that do happen being presented within the frame of a thriller. I'm not a fan of the pro-cop rhetoric, but at the same time, I did like Alma as a character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer and Domestic abuse

Major content warning for anyone sensitive to men abusing positions of power, sexual assault, and violence against women.

madalinejs's review

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Cancer, Infidelity, Mental illness, Stalking, Death, Grief, Murder, and Blood

libraryghost's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gore, Gaslighting, Death, Child death, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Alcoholism

cmaples's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Rape and Sexual harassment

Minor: Mental illness, Cancer, and Homophobia

beckyremillard's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Carly is looking into the disappearance of her aunt, Vivian, which occurred 35 years ago. Her mother died without ever discussing it and Carly wants answers. She goes to the town Viv disappeared from, Fell, to check it out. 

The story is told in 2017 from Carly’s perspective and in 1982 from Viv’s perspective. A lot of information is discovered twice, when Viv finds out in 1982 and when Carley finds out in 2017. 

This book definitely held my interest and I did not want to put it down. 

I didn’t expect there to be actual ghosts. Most thrillers I read, the “ghosts” are explained away by something else. I feel like the paranormal aspect of it should be more announced, I might have reached for the book sooner. 

Also, I was expecting there so be some tie in with the mother. She was so adamant about not wanting to discuss Viv, I thought she’d have known about her or something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Cancer, Stalking, and Rape

Moderate: Racism, Child death, Death of parent, Sexism, and Homophobia

Minor: Mental illness

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Mental illness, Stalking, Violence, and Gore

Minor: Cancer, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

marlireads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.75

The spooky, paranormal vibes in this are really good. They really did it for me. I was actually too scared to read this at night. The mystery, wasn't as shocking and revelatory as I wanted it to be, but it was still good. The story itself was a bit repetitve because of the two alternating timelines, the "this-happened-back-in-the-day-and-it's-happening-again-in-present-day" plotline. But the element I liked most was the portrayal of the fear of being a woman. What happened in this book is still the most real fear I, and every woman, has on a day-to-day basis. I think about these fears at least weekly and that's fucked up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Mental illness, Gun violence, Grief, and Cancer

cjcrawfish's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Mental illness, Violence, Stalking, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Cursing

taelights's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this book so much. Both Viv and Carly's POVs held my interest throughout and I enjoyed seeing the connections between their stories. Listening to them piece together the same basic mystery but at different times and using different clues was actually really interesting! It never made me bored or felt repetitive at all. Also this book had so many twists I didn't see coming. 

Also the mix between mystery, crime thriller, and supernatural horror was perfect. The author did an amazing job writing all of these elements, especially the creepy spooky ones. Adding in ghosts just added to the story and setting so well. 

The only thing I didn't like was one element of the ending.

I was disappointed with Viv's ending. I don't think she should have confessed. Between her confessing and having cancer I thought her being revealed as alive was pointless. It's like oh cool this character I got attached to but thought was dead is actually alive! Yay! Oh wait… she's now either going to die soon from cancer or rot in prision for the rest of her life when she literally could and should have kept getting away with this crime.

But overall this was a very amazing read that I deeply enjoyed! I can't wait to check out more books by Simone St. James now as I definitely loved her writing style in this book. 

Edit:  I just looked up the author and saw she's cis het so it kind of makes me uncomfortable and not like her because she used lesbian slurs in her writing. Using the word dyke in her writing was unnecessary to begin with but knowing she's heterosexual and using it leaves a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth. I'll still read Book of Cold Cases through the library but I'm glad I didn't pick it as my BOTM like I almost did because I won't be financially supporting her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Sexual violence, Stalking, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Death, Grief, Cancer, Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Rape, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Homophobic and lesphobic slurs written by a cis het author.