Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

22 reviews

monetteand's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I’m still processing, but ultimately I laughed, I cried, I felt things. I’m not sure how to do a review without spoiling but will do my best here- this is the first book I’ve read where I think the “thriller” part happens in the first 30%. After that is aftermath over many many years. It sometimes felt slow- but I don’t know that it was…complex, messy, full, hopeful. It kept me turning the pages and the ending was unexpected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide and Pregnancy

daylajane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

emilycab5's review

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Abortion

secretgardensbooks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

reckenreiter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

A thriller/ mystery that isn’t formulaic! A unique story with lots of detail and heart. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

faithemt's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

highly disappointing. Much preferred We Begin at the End by same author. 
this dragged on, was redundant in spots and took forever to resolve. LOTS of editing errors and even geographical ones (palmetto trees do NOt grow in mountains!! they're a seaside tree hahah). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Abortion

harleyglynn's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.5

"Saint wanted to ask what it was like, to lose the thing that defined you. But perhaps she knew: it left you someone else. A stranger you had no choice but to tolerate, and see each day and feel and fear."

As is to be expected of Chris Whitaker, this was masterfully written. Tragic and traumatic and beautiful and raw. So deeply complex. This story is engaging on so many levels. A serial killer mystery layered over complicated small-town relationships that span decades that will have you devouring chapters. While the mystery is the driving force of the novel, and will have you as completely obsessed with solving it as the main characters, the artfully crafted, intricately connected stories around the mystery are what truly bring this novel to life.  Be prepared to cycle through a broad range of emotions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lindseylitlivres's review

dark emotional hopeful 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, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest and Rape

katiejohns's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Abortion

Minor: Incest

kaitlyns_katalog's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

I jumped into this book wanting it to be a fast-paced murder mystery but it's definitely a slower paced saga with a murder mystery storyline. Once I switched my mindset I got more into the book. All the characters seem to speak very metaphorically (which some characters being children seemed very unrealistic) and this also took me a while to adjust to. After a bit I came to appreciate the beautiful narration and the storyline kept me very interested. 600 pages is always a lot but I think this book is worth it, there were a few sections I thought could be cut down. But all in all it's a beautiful novel I laughed, I cried, I recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment