Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

23 reviews

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging 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

This is my third book by Riley Sager and the one that has been recommended to me the most. I know this is many people’s favourite by this author, but while I enjoyed it, I wouldn’t say it was my favourite.

I usually shy away from books with medical content and the last third of the book was so heavy on this topic I felt sick to my stomach. And the FMC was such a limp noodle/damsel in distress—a trope that I found myself constantly being frustrated by. She was so downtrodden that being a final girl never really paid off in the end.

The tension and twists were effective, making it a thriller I didn’t want to put down, so overall I would recommend it if you already are a fan of this genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Suicide, Murder, Infidelity, Death of parent, Classism, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Grief, Death, and Body horror

Minor: Alcohol

bookcheshirecat's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

“Because here’s the thing about being poor—most people don’t understand it unless they’ve been there themselves. They don’t know what a fragile balancing act it is to stay afloat and that if, God forbid, you momentarily slip underwater, how hard it is to resurface.”

➽ Lock Every Door was my first Riley Sager book! It follows Jules, a young woman who takes an apartment-sitting job at the prestigious Bartholomew because she desperately needs the money. I liked that her friends were suspicious of the arrangement from the start and thought that there was something fishy going on, especially with the number of rules Jules has to follow. However, she is desperate to fix her financial issues and can't really pass up the offer. When another sitter disappears, Jules is the only one looking for her and diving into the history of the Bartholomew! I liked the discussions about poverty and privilege, as there is a stark contrast between Jules and the real habitants of her building!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Classism

Minor: Murder, Infidelity, Self harm, Cancer, Medical trauma, and Suicide

ashleynewman's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Book club pick. I guessed the villain(s) pretty early on and it was very easy to piece together the connection to

old Mr. Bartholomew

and

Cornelia

. REGARDLESS, it’s very good writing and I didn’t guess the final twist. I was up all night and that’s a mark of a good thriller in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, and Suicide

alisonfaith426's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Violence, Classism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Torture

Moderate: Car accident, Trafficking, Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Self harm

Minor: Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Confinement, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Alcohol

taelights's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

I decided to read this one because I recently read The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley and I saw some reviews comparing her book to this one. I really enjoyed The Paris Apartment and wanted more stories with similar vibes so I gave this one a chance and oh my god did I love this one. I got hooked so quickly. 

While I did figure out who was at fault and who couldn't be trusted pretty quickly the reason behind their actions shocked me and was something I didn't see coming. This was honestly such a great read and I had such a good time listening to it. This was my first Riley Sager book and I'll definitely be reading more by him in the future. 

The only reason I'm not giving this four stars is a thought a lot of Jules' actions where very dumb and I found myself sometimes getting very annoyed at her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Self harm, Kidnapping, Medical content, Stalking, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Suicide, and Violence

ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

This was my first Riley Sager book. I was expecting an edge of my seat thriller. What I got was even better: a slow-burn suspense novel with gothic undertones and commentary on the cycle of poverty, classism, and how our system constantly fails our most vulnerable. The pace was still fast and I tore through the book quickly, but it definitely made me think more than I was expecting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Death of parent, and Infidelity

bookishgoob's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

this was very entertaining. i have some problems with the way sager writes and the pacing of his stories but he has good stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

stellabyproxy's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.0

I was very hopeful going into this. Having come out of a reading slump I needed a book that could hold my attention and have a compelling story. One that would leave me at the edge of my seat, my breath caught and my eyes glued to the pages. 

What I got was a decent book that was well written but didn’t live up to the expectations that all the reviews I’d read had built up. It was, sadly, rather dull and nothing about it made me feel like I knew the characters in any way. Sager managed to write the most tragic of character backstories while making the reader constantly feel like the Jules was just out of reach. There was barely any emotional connection built with the characters and maybe that was intentional, a way of truly depicting Jules’ trust issues. But it didn’t feel like I was observing a story unfold in real-time, but rather like I was hearing it relayed by someone who was neither there, nor knew the characters personally. Like the entire story was neighbourhood gossip. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Minor: Blood, Chronic illness, Infidelity, and Suicide

ripxw's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Medical trauma, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer and Infidelity

ashleycmms's review

adventurous challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence and Infidelity