Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

53 reviews

yasaman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Infidelity, Dementia, Blood, Stalking, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Death, Chronic illness, Child death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Vomit, Medical trauma, Medical content, Bullying, Violence, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal death

jesskreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.0

Daisy Darker - Alice Feeney ⭐⭐⭐

📚 I recommend this if you love a closed circle of suspects, split timeline mystery 

Genre: Mystery 
Number of Pages: 336
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Publisher: Pan Books
Series or Standalone: Standalone 
Tropes & Themes: isolation, inherited property, closed circle of suspects, family trauma, dark past, locked room, unreliable narrator, jealousy, split timeline 

I really wanted to love this book, I was instantly drawn to the cover after seeing it! I've read other books by Alice Feeney that I enjoyed, so borrowed this one from my local library.
Oh
I liked the use of rhyming and the focus on the use of poems to aid the telling of the story. Definitely had unreliable narrator vibes throughout - an isolated family reunion was never going to end well!
I felt the ending was a bit disappointing (which I can't explain too much without spoiling) but it had a slight plot twist I wasn't expecting/didn't like!  a real shame

Favourite quote: "I have a secret of my own. And some secrets are worth killing to keep"

📖 Brief plot summary 
Daisy Darker is having a family reunion for her grandmother's  80th birthday. The Darker family haven't all been in the same place for a decade. When the tide goes in, the house is isolated from the mainland for 8 hours. When the tide goes out, nothing is the same as one of them is a killer!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Death

rchatterjee188's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Bullying, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Grief, Ableism, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Blood, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, and Confinement

emma_sky's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Blood, Xenophobia, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Gore, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Car accident, Death, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Grief

samluh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Very good pay off at the end! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, Gore, Death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Animal death, Alcohol, Sexual content, Bullying, Blood, Gun violence, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Abandonment

dev921's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Alcoholism, Bullying, Murder, Death, Alcohol, Body shaming, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

kiana_hi's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Physical abuse

screechie's review against another edition

sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

Another one that benefits from speeding up the audio, it suited the pacing of the book more. I did like the characters, though some were fleshed out more than others. Glad the acknowledgement of the Agatha Christie inspiration was there. 

What made me want to throw the book against the wall was the Sixth Sense-ing of an ending. It felt like we were cheated out of another ending by a publisher who just wanted to see it printed already. And given the And Then There Were None source, it was apparent from the “2nd” death Nana was still alive, but it being that obvious was a bummer because it killed any suspense built around the possibility of a red herring. It was a “drop the shoe already” from exasperation instead of anticipation.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Medical content, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, and Chronic illness

elliephant's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Grief

hxlleann's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, Murder, Car accident, Blood, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Terminal illness, and Death