Reviews tagging 'Death'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

162 reviews

ejoymiller11's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Rounded up from 3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book and found it entertaining, but I do think it could’ve been better. The flashbacks to Daisy’s childhood, while providing some nice context, dragged on a little too much compared to the rushed ending. I understand the author was trying to help us understand the characters and their flaws, but it was so slow and dragged the pace down from the present-day murder mystery chapters. I definitely think we could’ve had quicker summaries of character flaws and used those extra pages at the end of the book. 
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The last 40 or so pages felt forced to me, like it was wrapped up a little too perfectly. While I love the twist of Daisy being dead the entire time (I totally had to go back and read some paragraphs!), I didn’t find Trixie’s motive realistic. I’m not sure I find murdering her entire family and turning herself into an underage orphan over a child aunt that died 15 years earlier believable. It just wasn’t compelling enough for me. I wish we had a longer ending and better explanation for Trixie’s motivations and justification. Nana’s made a little more sense to me, but it was still hard to find believable in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Murder, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, and Child death

Minor: Animal death, Pregnancy, Confinement, Infidelity, Abandonment, Bullying, Gun violence, and Sexual content

dayingst's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Abandonment, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Car accident

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicide, and Pregnancy

zalouis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Car accident, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Medical content, Abandonment, Addiction, Medical trauma, Bullying, and Grief

theimposter's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicide and Alcoholism

ashleyj_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Death

Minor: Sexual content

aileron's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-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: Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Car accident, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Suicide and Alcoholism

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Medical content

tharumi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Child death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Car accident, Death of parent, and Suicide

tarabethlim's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Child death, and Death

tylerrose15161's review against another edition

I love murder mystery books, but my god was this difficult to get into and couldn't hold my attention. The pace and the tone of the book/narration was so slow and dragged on. The thing I disliked the most was that the main character Daisy, whose POV you stay locked into throughout the book, she repeatedly states that "she has a secret" and other ominous claims that her family has holes in them, they're not what they appear to be, etcetera  etcetera. Which normally wouldn't be an issue, but when these statements get repeated 10 times within the first 4 chapters, it no longer builds suspense for the reader. Instead it gives off the same energy as someone who posts on social media that they've had a bad day and when someone reaches out to ask if they're okay, they respond saying they don't want to talk about it. So it's extremely annoying.

I ended up reading a summary breakdown of the book instead of actually reading it because of these reasons. And even going through the breakdown, I was still left uninterested.

As for the ending of the book, it did manage to surprise me by revealing a plot twist that I wasn't expecting. But at the same time, it wasn't enough to redeem the book itself. It left me with the feeling of "that's it?".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Car accident, Death, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

sobbinghoursopen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Child death, Mental illness, and Murder