Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

6 reviews

kaneebli's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, and Grief

Minor: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

ehoustonmyatt's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I hoped for more from this but it was alright. Maybe just not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Homophobia and Racism

avidreaderandgeekgirl'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Quick Synopsis:  Ethan is back at his childhood home 30 years after his best friend Billy disappeared from his backyard. Ethan, still having nightmares from that night, begins to think Billy is trying to communicate with him.

Quick Review:  I almost wish the book had supernatural elements, I think that would have made the ending more satisfying. I figured out part of what had happened to Billy, by about halfway through the book. I know Riley Sager's books tend to be ones I either love or I just feel meh about, but this one was a meh book. I think part of the problem was Ethan wasn't that likable.

Narrator Rating: 4.0 stars
  The narrator did an excellent job, though some of his tonal shifts for the flashbacks were irritating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Death of parent

While a child is killed in the book, I don't think it would qualify as graphic as it was relatively quick and not vividly described, though it's talked about quite a bit.

I would not use the "murder" content warning as no one is actually murdered even if is suspected to have happened.

bookedandbusy's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book! One of my favorites yet.  It was eerie and perfect for a warm, rainy summer night! The plot twists definitely left me shocked! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Dementia, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Kidnapping, and Car accident

paronomaniac's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Death, Dementia, and Murder

Minor: Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Racism, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

robinwritesallthethings's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

What It’s About: When Ethan Marsh was ten, his best friend Billy Barringer disappeared out of the tent they were sleeping in in his backyard and was never seen again. Now Ethan has returned home and the ghost of Billy is haunting him, prompting him to attempt to discover what really happened that night once and for all.

Plot: This novel had more twists than I’ve ever seen in one place, and all of them were pulled off beautifully. In the end, everything connected together in a complete picture that made total sense. The characters were compelling, there was a frank discussion of trauma and how it colors everyone’s lives for decades afterwards, and everyone’s reactions to events were realistic.

Style: Riley Sager’s writing is lyrical, incredibly atmospheric, and also downright creepy. It flows so well and can be read so easily that it honestly hardly feels like reading at all, which, to be clear, is a compliment.

Trigger Warnings: The book is mostly centered around mental health and trauma response. There’s also a lot of death and grief, which is to be expected considering the topic of the narrative.

Final Thoughts: I love Riley Sager. I’ve read every single one of his novels. It is a summer ritual for me to buy his latest book and read it in one day, then tell my friend, who won’t read thrillers because they’re too scary, the entire plot and what my guesses were as I was reading. For the record, my guesses have been halfway there or close, but never right on the money. Riley gets me every time, and I actually like that, because I read so much that I’m hard to surprise. I just wish I could do this more than once a year, but I get it. Good books take time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Dementia, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage, Racism, and Pregnancy