Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Survive the Night by Riley Sager

102 reviews

maddireads13's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Death of parent

greatestheights's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

If I had to hear the words "movie in my mind" one more time, I s2g.

I wanted to like Charlie. I wanted to like this plot. I wanted so many, many things, namely for Charlie to get out of the goddamn car and/or take ANY of the numerous opportunities she had to get tf away from this terrible situation. I thought I was going to lose my mind when a cop was literally RIGHT THERE and she still willingly GOT BACK IN THE CAR WITH A DUDE SHE THOUGHT WAS A VICIOIS SERIAL KILLER.

Also, we need to talk about how bad Sager is at writing women and mental illness. Just
stop, buddy. After The Last Time I Lied and now this, I think I'm solidly done with this author. 

Alllll of that said, I devoured the book in less than 24 hours, so props to Sager and the audibook narrator. I also was genuinely surprised with one twist and pleased with myself that I guessed the second. Is it weird that I enjoyed listening to this book and simultaneously hated it? Probably, and that's why I gave it an extra star.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Terminal illness

morganhill121's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Murder

letter2self's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

abbiemreads's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

2.0

A fail on the trope of unreliable narrator, the ending undermines the entire thing and made me frustrated
I liked the tense parts but honestly saw the twists coming and it felt like adding in the other perspectives from Charlie’s was because the author didn’t trust their readers to understand what was happening 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

isgbv's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

karamelka_kar19's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

I heard so many negative things about this book, but I really enjoyed this one. It had a steady pace, although really slow for a triller. I liked the discussions of victim-blaming and gaslight, the story was written with great compassion and care. 

There are many plot holes, characters did some stupid (and weirdly realistic) things, but they're kind of made sense as the wholе book is a bit ridiculous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Car accident

hannahjo28's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

vicktorea'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

3.0

nice message

I had some mixed feelings about this. There were so many points where i felt the main character could get out of the situation they were in but just...didn't. Like at any point in real life when those opportunities to escape had arisen, anyone would've taken them so it didn't make sense that the MC didn't take advantage of those moments other than the fact that the author needed to propel the story forward. I also guessed all the twists but i still liked the ending.

I liked the 90's vibe, the creepiness/atmosphere, and the incorporation of classic movies woven throughout the story. I also appreciated the overarching message this story offered; life isn't a movie but you can live your life to the fullest and make it your own movie - carpe diem!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit and Suicide attempt

sib_reads's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

I want to thank NetGalley, the author, Riley Sager, and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Riley Sager thriller. As expected, this was a very fast-paced novel with lots of twists and turns, increasing towards the end of the book especially. It is set over the course of one night and there is a lot to unpack in such a short space of time. I didn’t realise that the book is formatted like a screenplay (maybe because it was an ARC and on kindle) until right near the end, but it is obvious that the author is penning a love letter to movies.

Initially I did not enjoy the ‘movie in my mind’ trope of the main character Charlie. However, I warmed to the idea more as the book went on and it was undeniably gripping to read from the POV of an unreliable narrator. I also enjoyed that this book tied up every loose end uncovered throughout. Every question had an answer by the end of the novel, though maybe there was slight over-explanations at points. 

The ending of this book was full on crazy. There was so much action and drama, and so obviously it is easy to imagine this book as a movie itself. It was a very far-fetched concept but it surprised me how hooked I was.

In my opinion, you really can tell that this book was written by a man. The main character Charlie was so unlike any woman that exists in real life. She had no common sense and made some infuriating decisions the entire way through the book.

Even though this book did not blow me away (and even irritated me at points) I still could not put it down and read it all in one sitting. That is why I have gone with a mid-tier 2.5 star rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death and Mental illness

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol