Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

151 reviews

bubblegirl858's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

For my 2023 rating system I gave this book 4 stars. This book was an amazing read. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I seriously enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on the entire book.

Once I got to the end of the book, I immediately restarted it and tried to make sense of the things that my brain had just auto filled with any family interactions with Daisy. I was literally kicking myself for just not noticing how none of the family interacted with her. I honestly did not see the ending twist at all, and it made the book so much more exciting once everything fell into place in the big "Clue" game they were living. The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars is because of the characters. Some of them were so irredeemable that it made me despise any scene with them and I just couldn't get over it, even if they got their karma. The siblings just causally getting rid of Daisy like that and the parents covering it up? Absolutely deserved everything that happened to them. Amazing writing on Alice Freeney's part, but I just couldn't get over it personally.

Overall, a great read and I would definitely go back and read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Chronic illness, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

brittbottoms's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Murder

fraise's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Suicide

savvylit's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

Daisy Darker is a tough book to rate, honestly. As a thriller, it's quite entertaining and does a good job of maintaining suspense. The conclusion and reveal genuinely surprised me! I had guessed the murderer but not the circumstances. If you enjoy fast-paced mysteries, you'll probably enjoy this! The mystery itself is a four-star idea & execution.

Though I did appreciate the suspense and homages to Agatha Christie, the actual quality of writing in Daisy Darker is not great. To the point where it frequently bothered me as a reader. I rolled my eyes at many narrative decisions. When describing Daisy's family or her past, every paragraph is absolutely LOADED with similes and metaphors. This is not a direct quote but will give you an idea of what I mean: "if families are a tapestry, ours was frayed beyond repair." The first several chapters include sentences like that multiple times within single paragraphs. It's incredibly heavy-handed. We get it! The Darker family is deeply dysfunctional.

Furthermore, the chapters tend to conclude with sentences that serve as ridiculously transparent attempts at cliffhangers: "and that was a night I'll never forget" or "my sisters' relationship was never the same again." Almost every chapter ended that way and it was so unnecessary. The cliffhanger-esque details become obvious later anyway! Again with heavy-handed narration. Just tell the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming and Sexual assault

marik0n's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I just finished reading Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney and I had the urge to immediately start re reading it!

Alice Feeney is surely the queen of dualpovs and plottwists.

Even though I was really invested in this story, I didn't like it as much as her other books.

Don't get me wrong, it was still a masterpiece, but something spoiled it for me (the ending). 

All in all it was a great read, by a great writer and I look forward to reading more of her stories.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

amazingracerose's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

catieohjoy's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Murder

katharina90's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

I love stories that center dysfunctional families–so relatable. I’m also a fan of thrillers set in remote locations. This book checked both of those boxes. Sadly, I didn’t find it as atmospheric as Lucy Foley’s The Guest List, for example. 

Plot and writing overall were fine but character development was lacking so I wasn’t really invested. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse

amplawrence's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

penandpaper's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

An amazing book! At times, the build up and prose was a bit repetitive, but that’s a common problem with mysteries. This is a book about living in the past and needing to accept it to move on, and it’s very well done. The plot twist could be decisive (I first hated it, then loved it, then had lingering questions), but the book does a good job of balancing comfortable nostalgia with suspense and mystery. I think this is a book you’ll either love or hate from the ending.

I think the mechanics of the final twist could have been done better. Like, why does she stick around but not her relatives? Does the book set her free? What happens to Trixie? As much as I appreciate the sudden twist and the tie in to the beginning, I wish we had more information 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, and Medical content