Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

55 reviews

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

growintogardens's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.5

Feeney is good at making a creepy atmosphere, and I could visualize the house really well. I didn't love the twist.

It was something I thought about early, but dismissed it. I honestly think this would have been more enjoyable if she had survived instead of becoming a ghost, and lost the memory of the accident. It would have been more creepy and crazy imo, for them to still kill the family members because of Daisy's abuse, which is what I thought before the ghost reveal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Grief, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

bubblegirl858'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

4.0

For my 2023 rating system I gave this book 4 stars. This book was an amazing read. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I seriously enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on the entire book.

Once I got to the end of the book, I immediately restarted it and tried to make sense of the things that my brain had just auto filled with any family interactions with Daisy. I was literally kicking myself for just not noticing how none of the family interacted with her. I honestly did not see the ending twist at all, and it made the book so much more exciting once everything fell into place in the big "Clue" game they were living. The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars is because of the characters. Some of them were so irredeemable that it made me despise any scene with them and I just couldn't get over it, even if they got their karma. The siblings just causally getting rid of Daisy like that and the parents covering it up? Absolutely deserved everything that happened to them. Amazing writing on Alice Freeney's part, but I just couldn't get over it personally.

Overall, a great read and I would definitely go back and read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Violence and Sexual content

Minor: Chronic illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Pregnancy

fraise's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Bullying, Murder, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Medical content, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Minor: Suicide, Sexual content, and Animal death

amberjavant'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence and Suicide

bethboo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

I really thought that I wasn't going to like this book. The first 2 hours of it had me second guessing whether I wanted to even read it. Maybe I would have felt different if I had ever read Agatha Christie or even knew the story of And Then There Were None. Cause apparently the entire book is a nod to that. But it really pulled me in when we started to get to know the family member. The home movies were always my favorite. The narrator was phenomenal, sounding choked up and adding tears. She was great.
All the characters were horrible people and very cruel in a realistic way. They felt like real people, like I could turn around and google their names and see them in the flesh. That could partly be attributed to the narrator and her success in telling the story but that's one of the main reasons that I liked this book.

The ending. It was horribly unsatisfying and is really coloring my thoughts about the book even though I'm trying not to let it because I enjoyed the twist and turns and writing right up until the last hour or so.
 
 

Ghosts? The HUGE plot twist is...a ghost?? That's like so weird? Like this isn't a fantasy novel or something magical. She was just dead...like huh?? SO fucking disappointing.
It was a big shocker to learn how Daisy had died and it really fit in with the other characters. However, Trixie and Nana being the killers?? *eye roll* You think a tiny 15 yr old girl and an aged 80 yr old woman could move 3 dead bodies of grown adults? Like come on.
And the whole game of killing every hour on the hour and the poems, idk it just felt a little too sadistic and twisted for Trixie and Nana. Especially since their motivation was love. Like I could have believed a crime of passion by Nana, because of her anger at being the last one to know, but the game doesn't really feel realistic for them. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Grief

uranaishi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Child death, Car accident, Chronic illness, Murder, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gore, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Abandonment, and Gun violence

Minor: Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dementia, Drug use, and Pregnancy

soobooksalot's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

Locked room mysteries, meet dysfunctional families. Always a great combination!
 Daisy Darker was my final pick for Spooky Season reading (though really, that doesn't stop year-round). Alice Feeney remains a favourite thriller author with reason!
 Daisy's Nana's island home of Seaglass provides the backdrop for the story, which takes place in the hours leading to Halloween. Members of the Darker family are meeting their demise and secrets from the past may be contributing. 
 Some fantastic atmosphere and reveals here - fans of Agatha Christie and Tessa Wegert will most appreciate!
 Absolutely recommended!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Car accident, Child death, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, and Death of parent

henyouise's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.25

It feels fitting that I finished this book on Halloween.
It's a great mystery in the style of And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie). And I did not expect the ending, but in a good way. Very spooky read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Murder, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Grief, Suicide, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

julienicole1106's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, and Death of parent