Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

53 reviews

annaonthepage's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This was a fun play on classic murder mysteries with a supernatural twist.

Great sense of voice for the ensemble of characters, and very well narrated on the audiobook. A little overwrought, and has some repetition that could have been edited out, so at times it feels a bit more like juvenile fiction than an adult murder mystery. I guess those are the trappings of part of the story. Very enjoyable, if not entirely convincing/satisfying in the reveal and wrap-up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, and Child death

The sexual assault is a very brief encounter between an 18yo and a 13yo, both drunk, and the 13yo tells the reader she is pleased at the attention, but it's already an uncomfortable situation and a polluted power dynamic. Thankfully this doesn't go all the way and ends when the girl says no.

katiemhuang's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Car accident, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Murder, and Emotional abuse

masoncasper's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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

A mystery in which a family with a plethora of dark secrets is stuck on an island house where they are being killed off one by one. As secrets are revealed, the truths about the family starts to come to life and the flaws of the characters are shoved into the light evoking absolutely no sympathy as they begin to die. The reveal of the murderer is shocking and subverts the general standard of a murder mystery although one of the plot lines revealed in the conclusion was predictable, it wasn’t a disappointment in the end and there was a sense of sympathy and sadness to the finality of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

cheypreston'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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

maregred's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, and Blood

Minor: Sexual assault

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Bullying, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

fanboyriot's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

It definitely gave off And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (which was mentioned in the book) plus the narrator was great, her voice was quite relaxing.

I went into this knowing nothing about it and I kinda recommend that.  The plot is  much more interesting that way in my opinion.  However, it definitely felt dragged out and at times, it seemed like there were some unnecessary chapters but overall it was pretty entertaining.  

The plot twist near the end got me.  I wasn’t expecting that but I’m not sure how I felt about it at the same time.  Everything tied in together to the poem of the family.  Exposing the family secrets one by one leading them to the biggest secret of all and getting revenge for it after so many years.

And lastly, never cross Nana… or else you’ll end up like the rest of the Darker family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Bullying, Child death, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Alcohol, Ableism, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Confinement, Medical trauma, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Body shaming, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Drug use, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Sexual harassment

ksheathebrave'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There was a lot to dislike about this book (most notably the poor editing, especially for repetition), but I didn’t initially feel the need to review it. I mean, why yuck someone’s yum? Who cares. I don’t even care that I guessed the main twist within the first few chapters. Plus, it was engaging enough that I read the whole thing within a few days, and I have no qualms with DNF-ing books. 

But then I got to Chapter 38, and wow, big yikes. The fact that I haven’t seen this issue mentioned in any other reviews is absolutely *wild.* Like, y’all. It’s concerning. 

Spoiler re SA 

In Chapter 38, an 18 year old man attempts to sexually assault Daisy, a 13 year old child. Thankfully, he stops when he sees her scar, calls her a freak, runs away, etc etc.

The scene is completely unrelated to the plot and does nothing to move the story forward. It’s just gratuitous and disgusting. By this point in the book, the author has well-established that Daisy feels like “freak” because of her broken heart, so there’s no purpose for this scene, other than that the author wanted to write it.

If the author isn’t clever enough to come up with an alternate way of occupying Daisy’s time before the next scene without resorting to the SA of a literal CHILD, she really should not be writing. The editor likewise needs to do some serious self-reflecting on the content they’re approving.

 

Spoiler re safety of the dog

Poppins survives! Yay!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gore, and Alcoholism

susie_bee'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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Death

Minor: Sexual assault, Animal death, Gun violence, Fatphobia, and Suicide

francie12's review against another edition

fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault