Reviews tagging 'Death'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

162 reviews

ssarahbbeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this. This is a book-lovers book and just completely satisfying. I was a little concerned this would not be an enjoyable read because there were a few characters that were so awful they didn't feel realistic at first. At the beginning, the bigger mystery to me was how they were getting away with behaving the way that they did and not the subsequent bodies piling up. The twist wasn't done just for the sake of having a twist, it is the soul of the story and when I finished I immediately wanted to go back and re-read the book to find all of the breadcrumbs the author left. Every question I had, from the actions of the characters that turned me off so much to the reveal of the mystery was so rewarding. I am glad I stuck with it. After this and Rock Paper Scissors, I think I have found my new favorite author.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Child death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Fatphobia, Animal death, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Car accident, Medical content, Gore, and Infidelity

The violence isn't graphic and mostly a description of the aftermath. There is a scene where a 13 year old gets drunk and an older teenager (around 18) manipulates her into kissing him. Not explicit but could be upsetting. The two mothers are emotionally abusive and all around horrible to their daughters.

selene_nyxly's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

I devoured this book! Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. At first, I was annoyed by the narrator and main character, Daisy. Once I got more into the flow of the story, I appreciated the way her side tangents and story retellings helped me understand the characters better.

Having read “And Then There Were None”, I guessed that Nana was still alive. However, I was so stunned when the paranormal aspect was revealed. To look back at previous sections of the book and realize that the clues were there was so frustratingly satisfying

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Terminal illness, Death, Blood, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Car accident

zosiablue's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

OK. When I got to the end, my first thought was, THIS IS LUDICROUS. It's a classic locked room Agatha Christie homage but as each character dies, NO ONE has the right sized reaction. I mean, people keep dropping dead, and the alive ones might cry a little but...if my whole family died every hour on the hour while 80 clocks on a wall clanged each time I might have a stronger reaction?! And then the Sixth Sense ending! But. But! If you read it like a absolute terrifying horror shitshow about a bunch of certifiably psychotic people out psychotic-ing each other until there's nothing left but a seaside mansion full of gory, bloody bodies and one sad teenage ghost - then we've got ourselves a ballgame.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Car accident

lingoreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Death and Alcoholism

Moderate: Suicide

clrouse's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Chronic illness, and Murder

bookaholics_anonymous's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism and Suicide

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Daisy Darker’s family returns to Seaglass for Nana’s 80th birthday…but then they begin dying off one by one while trapped on the island at high tide, and family secrets come to light that will change everything.

This is my favorite of Alice Feeney’s novels so far! I’m a sucker for an And Then There Were None homage, and the setting/atmosphere of this one is absolutely perfect—seaside house, cut off from the world by a storm and high tide, and lots and lots of dead bodies piling up over one extra-creepy Halloween night. There’s also some very eerie poetry that really adds to the tension overall.

Most of all, I absolutely loved the writing style of this one—there are so many absolutely beautiful poignant quotes and brilliant details. And, while I won’t say more for fear of spoilers, I absolutely did not see the main twist coming (and audibly shouted at my book when it happened).

Highly recommend this to all thriller fans!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: locked room mysteries; dark family sagas; creepy seaside vibes

CW: Lots of death/blood/violence; discussions of terminal illness; discussion of animal death; physical and emotional abuse; suicide

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Murder, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

taryn_g's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Car accident, Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Alcoholism

Minor: Addiction, Infidelity, and Animal death

rachelfayreads's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Gun violence