Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Little Stranger by Leigh Rivers

144 reviews

lilly16's review against another edition

4.25

dark sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse, Blood

phena223's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Stalking

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, Kidnapping

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol

ephemeral_remi's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

lavieenrosee's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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3.5 🌶️

PLEASE
PLEASE
PLEASE  
CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS!!!

It's well written. 
Super fast paced. 
Bingeable.
 
But it's just too dark for me.
There are just some parts that made me question my own taste in books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment

regent_ace's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail

meowrie's review against another edition

5.0

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This dark romance has it all. Malachi and Olivia are the best and I was rooting for their taboo asses. 

All my favorite tropes were in this book. All the best triggers were here. And I love a good foster sibling romance on top of all the craziness. 

The audiobook makes it even better. Joe Arden is perfect for these unhinged roles, and Heather Firth is fantastic as always. I love the duet narration as well. 

It goes without saying that this one is full of triggers, full of sex, full of violence. If that's not your cup of tea, skip it. I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Abandonment

Minor: Bullying

hariyek's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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i’m lowkey really embarrassed that i liked this. i don’t know, man. i shed a few tears here and there, and malachi was a teeny bit funny. maybe i’m the problem. i don’t know, man. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail

natashareadsbooks's review against another edition

4.0

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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So, I have been in a huge book slump all month, which is super unfortunate because I love spooky season & all the reads. But after trying a few different books, I finally settled on Little Stranger. 

I love dark romances & the foster/step sibling trope so I was looking forward to this one. And it was perfect for spooky season. It was a little taboo, and a little bit dark. 

It follows Malachi and Olivia who are foster siblings - living under the same roof. Even as kids Malachi was Posessive over Olivia, more than a brother should be. As they grow older, their attraction for one another also grows. But then Olivia testifies against him, sending him away to prison... And now he wants his revenge. 

So, I definitely enjoyed this book- the forbidden/taboo aspects of their relationship, and the dark and depravity of it as well. It could have been darker, and a little more twisted, but overall I enjoyed it. & I loved Malachi even though he had selective mutism due to his past trauma. He was over the top jealous & Posessive. And I loved when he got jealous of himself (seriously, a favorite micro-trope that I don't see often enough 😂😂). And while it wasn't my favorite read, I definitely enjoyed it and loved it as my Halloween read. 4⭐ out of 5⭐

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Alcohol

loudmouthbooklover's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Screwdriver and spider 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder

tguccione's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse