Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

78 reviews

maddie_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

I really liked the premise of the book, some in interesting ideas, but didn't love the execution.

I didn't think the characterization was great

Wished Jason felt more developed/ more science-y. He felt very dude-bro to me. Didn't like that he didn't feel guilty about Jason 2's Daniella dying. Wished Daniella was more developed, I didn't feel like I knew her at all. Really didn't appreciate that the only other female character, Amanda, was seemingly just chucked in with Jason so that he'd have someone to freak out with/ talk to during his adventure and was not fleshed out as a real character. Like she just gave up her entire world for a colleague?

. 
The main character felt like he was making really stupid decisions a lot of the time which took me out of the book a bit because it made me think about why tf he wasn't doing something else

like him continuing to go into a quarantined world, him and Amanda not trying to find more ampoules - like they can go into any world, so they could've definitely found some more go bags with more ampoules ? Why didn't they ever try to find the friend that made the secret ingredient?

The writing felt a bit clunky sometimes, felt like it was written more to be a screenplay for tv show or movie

like when Jason goes into his other self's house and it just goes on and on repeatedly "like this is different in my house"

. But this did make the novel easy to visualize.

Pacing was a bit inconsistent, felt like it wrapped up too quickly given how much build up there was.
A bit too predictable. 

I was hoping the romance plotline was going to be more engaging/ interesting and felt disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Torture, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Abortion and Rape

chloeve's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

The concept of this book was really interesting and it kept my attention. However, sometimes it did get a little repetitive (understandably), and I got lost with the science talk. I didn't see how it was going to end though, and I did like it. Also, the chapters were wayyyyy too long for me, so it felt like I was taking forever to read the book. Overall, I did enjoy it and would recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Stalking, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

aleyajo's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Man Jason loves his wife. Kept me on the edge of my seat; some stuff was predictable, some stuff wasn’t. Super fun read and creative. Ending felt a little too convenient but whatever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual content, Gun violence, Infidelity, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Murder, Drug use, Gore, Death, and Violence

ababytapir's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

Like Recursion, Dark Matter is fantastically mind-bending and all too easy to read in a day. It's incredibly violent and thought provoking. If you like your sci fi thrillers tinged with horror, existential dread and romance, this is the book for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Torture, Child death, Abortion, Self harm, War, Violence, Death of parent, Suicide, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer, Pregnancy, Rape, and Terminal illness

If you struggle with derealisation, dissociation or depersonalisation, or any sort of identify disorder, this book could potentially be incredibly triggering. Proceed with extreme caution. Violence warning: There is an incredibly detailed description of a gory epidemic/pandemic. There are multiple gory descriptions of dead bodies, murder, and horrific natural disasters. There is a long kidnapping scene. There's multiple instances of stalking.

goldenlake's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Violence

dangarias's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

ninasloft's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Child death

Minor: Abortion and Abandonment

iono's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Stalking, Confinement, Drug use, Child death, Sexual content, Blood, Abortion, Gun violence, Rape, Medical content, Violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

linwood's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

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

3.25

While I felt the need to finish this book, I am not certain that I enjoyed it. It is dark, tense, violent and often lonely. There are some surprising moments and it raises questions for the reader about humanity and science. I recognize the talent of the author and that it is well written, however the experience of reading it is not a pleasant one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

one_womanarmy's review against another edition

dark informative sad 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

3.75

An excellent romp through quantum entanglement and multiverse theory, with Blake Crouch's usual romantic nihilism and fast violence to keep the blood pumping. A grand finale collates around a somewhat over explored set of central themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Torture, Infidelity, Grief, and Confinement