Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

5 reviews

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Torture

madeline's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, and Child death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, and Sexual assault

thatsssorachael's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

Such a twisty, compelling, beautifully written novel. While it had a slow start, maybe took too long to reveal what Anna's trauma is, and has very flowery language for my tastes...it was unputdownable after page 100. I didn't guess the full twists, although I guessed one of the big ones. Thrillers often don't take time to fully flesh out the characters, but this one did. The result was compelling, realistic characters using real clues that the reader can also use to solve the story. There is a lot of discussions on sexual abuse, but it wasn't gratuitous at any point. My biggest "con" was an animal was injured severely, for almost no reason.

Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicide, and Cancer

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

I know Paula McLain for her historical fiction novels and was surprised to see that this was a mystery/thriller. Though set in 1993, it still seemed more mystery than history. However, after reading the Author's Note at the end, I realized Ms. McLain had interwoven a real kidnapping case into her story—I just hadn't recognized it as a true story while reading. I think this added a touch of reality that is usually missing from these kinds of books, and I appreciated that.

As for the story itself, it's more of a mystery than a thriller, even though the chapters are short. I suspected two characters for the kidnapper and one of them was correct. The ending reveal did feel a bit rushed to me though. When Anna finds the clue that leads her to the kidnapper, it seems to come out of the blue and it's not something the reader could have picked up on earlier. Also, the mystery of Anna's immediate past, what drove her to Mendocino, felt lacking to me. Yes, it was tragic, but not the kind of detail that needed to be hidden for the whole novel. I think there could have been more insight into Anna's character, and more development, if this knowledge was revealed much earlier in the story. As it is, it was hard to fully understand Anna's motivations, even though the story is written from her perspective, because we were missing this detail from her past.

That being said, I did appreciate the development given to secondary characters, particularly Emily. Her story was heartbreaking, but I loved the subtle strength she grew for the sake of her daughter. Also Cricket the dog was a lovely addition.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Read if you like: nature essays, true crime, haunted heroines. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Confinement and Rape

Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Violence, and Alcoholism