Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

32 reviews

emmehooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

Gooped, gagged, shocked (I’ve never read any Agatha Christie so I didn’t know the trope coming in). Every time I thought I had something figured out, I was wrong. Going back after I finished reading, there were so many clever hints, semantics, and clues spread in the book. 

I enjoyed the blending of flashbacks and present, good pacing, and a plot I am very excited to talk about at book club!!! 

The ending was quite full circle but I wish there was a little more to answer a few lingering questions. A huge build-up to such a short conclusion despite leaving so much room for more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Car accident, Terminal illness, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Minor: Blood, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Animal death, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

i absolutely loved this book. it was like a less racist and homophobic version of And Then We Were None by Agatha Christie. if someone would’ve proposed this book to me i would’ve never read it because the tropes seem cliché and underwhelming. however, the execution was flawless. she delivered these tropes i normally find stupid in such an impressive and compelling way imo. also the end interaction between two of the main characters genuinely brought me to tears. i would ABSOLUTELY recommend this to almost anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Medical content, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

elwan_enchanted'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

There was a lot I enjoyed about this book, namely the structure and parallels to And Then There Were None.  I anticipated the first twist pretty early into the book, and that was fun.  The part I struggled with was that so much of the end/backstory felt just gratuitously, unnecessarily sad.  For me, it took away from the rest of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Blood

theonlybaillie's review against another edition

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

3.75

Wasn't amazing, wasn't awful.

I enjoyed my time with it, but I wouldn't reread it.

Deeply okay.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness and Murder

Minor: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Gun violence, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

readingwithtrey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Book Review || ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 

Wow! This review will be short and sweet because I think it’s best to go into this one blind.

Daisy Darker is my second Alice Feeney read (the other being Rock, Paper, Scissors) and it easily takes the top spot. I don’t even know how to write this, because this book left me SHOOK & speechless.

This is a dark & twisty read, but I would also add that it’s incredibly heartbreaking. I guessed one twist but for the life of me could not figure the killer. There was one teeeny thing that left me with a question, but nothing that took away from the story.

I highly recommend Daisy Darker and it’s the perfect book for spooky season!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Gaslighting, Violence, Suicide, and Physical abuse

Minor: Gun violence

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

The narration style of this book was quite unique. It felt more like sitting at a table with Daisy over tea and listening as she recollected memories, while everyone else bustles about. There are a few twists in here I was not expecting AT ALL. And while it took me a bit to warm up to this book, by the end I was invested

and devastated.

This is the second book I read and loved by Alice Feeney and I’ll definitely be reading more by this author in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Medical content, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Blood

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

It was a dark and stormy night… okay, but really—it was a dark and stormy night on an isolated island off the coast of Cornwall, where an estranged family has gathered for Nana Darker’s 80th birthday. Albeit awkward considering their weird family dynamic, a tense celebration of sorts ensues until Nana turns up dead at the stroke of midnight. One by one, the family members disappear accompanied by cryptic, poetic messages, but whodunit?? 

I can’t say too much without giving the whole story away, but this was a fun murder mystery! For sure a more modern take on Agatha Christie mysteries with a little “Knives Out” action. It also reminded me, at times, of “The Prestige” and “Shutter Island”. 

I will say that I guessed the final twists fairly early on, but still felt the satisfying shock when they were unveiled, as some pieces I definitely had not put together. 

The writing style was great, though I did find the book a little too long, and some of the flashbacks stunted the flow of the story a tad. Also, don’t go into this one expecting to like any of the characters—some I rather loathed, which was part of the point of course. 

Overall, a very on-brand read for Halloween season!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Abandonment, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Alcohol, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Death, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, Sexual content, Animal death, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

kris386's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Murder, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, and Car accident

Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Body shaming, and Infidelity

tspice24's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content

evieolive's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.0

Wasn't a fan of the writing style, but a fun, easy to read book, and I liked the twist well enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Car accident, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide, Fatphobia, Violence, Gore, Drug use, and Grief