Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

8 reviews

danaslitlist's review against another edition

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

1.0

Well, this book was sitting at a solid three stars for the majority of my reading. I found the slow burn pacing and build up rather effective and the way the writer described emotions and the terrifying situations clever, but I couldn't get past the rampant use of the slur P*ki (though used strictly in the POV of characters we're clearly not supposed to root for) that felt tossed around every other time a background character from "the rough part of town" was described. This was what was holding the book back from being a higher rating, until the reveal of who the Chestnut Man (who I'll call X to avoid spoilers) actually was and then I audibly groaned and knew this was going to drop lower. 

When I tell you at the beginning of the book I jokingly said to myself, "Watch it be X character" because that would be the most random yet predictable killer, I'm dead serious. And lo and behold, I was right. Not only did I find this reveal a complete let down because narratively it felt lazy, it was also a let down because while yes, it might be "shocking" that doesn't make it good. The reason it was shocking was because there was literally ZERO groundwork or clues leading to it being X. Of course it was going to shock the reader when you pull a villain out of thin air. 

Add on top of that issue the totally misogynistic and bizarre logic of X's motives, and you've got a mess of an ending. Do I understand that serial killers have a tendency to be a misogynistic and illogical? Oh absolutely! But that doesn't fit the picture that has been painted of this character. If X is trying to punish people in retaliation for their past, why is it that it falls solely on this one type of victim and not the other when it's proven on page that they blame both types of people for the trauma of their past? It just didn't make sense to me. And maybe that is on me for expecting this genius level serial killer to have morals or emotions (even though again, we're shown that they're acting out of a place of EMOTION AND MORALS). 

And, you're telling me that Rosa didn't realize WHO POTENTIALLY was involved when that event in the past was marked with a chestnut doll?!?! I cannot. I cannot. 

But what absolutely stings the most is that the final lesson in this book is: traumatized and abused children turn into bad adults who will the same to others, intentionally or not. There is a severe lack of nuance or empathy towards X’s sibling who most definitely was not mentally well and extremely traumatized. 

This was so beyond disappointing as the atmosphere and the build up was well crafted. 

PS: the minister lady deserves to rot in hell. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Child death, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Child abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Gore, and Physical abuse

katybugggg's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death, Gore, Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

jettaparadis's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Gore, Blood, Torture, Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Car accident, Stalking, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

cosyskog's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I honestly thought I hated this book. After reading the first 125 pages, it felt like the story was crawling along even though I recognised this was to give a broader depth to the characters and their relationships. So I gave myself a break and put the book down for a month. 

When I picked it back up, I read the last 400 pages in 2 nights as I was invested in how the mystery unravelled itself. 

A few brief parts describing the women characters,especially as viewed by others, are written from the perspective of the male gaze and didn't seem to really add value to the characters. Unless the purpose was to call out one of the underlying themes of misogyny throughout the book. 

The story does remind me why I love a good mystery though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Child abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Death, and Stalking

sarah_speaks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Body horror, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Stalking, Pedophilia, Gore, Blood, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Sexual content

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Alcoholism

alexhaydon's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

kaidoz's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

The main plot of the book surrounds a serial killer, and I find the idea of it very interesting. The murders and the way the plot thickens isn’t too slow. The main characters are pretty cliche. The main woman is a headstrong/independent type and the main man is a carbon copy of the rugged detective with a mysterious past who was kicked off the force. The story itself made it readable but because of the characters’ cliche-ness I wasn’t too much of a fan of the <slight romance toward the end>. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Murder, Kidnapping, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Stalking, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Medical content

This book contains mentions of graphic child abuse, physical and sexual. Many people are murdered and it is mentioned in detail due to the main characters being detectives.

tomato_bisque's review

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

3.5

I'm kinda tired of reading modern day thrillers where the killer is always someone close to the protagonist. I'll start the book and predict who it is going to be. I'll keep reading them anyways though so maybe that says more about me.

 
Overall, I thought the book was fun and fast-paced. It does get into over-the-top territory on occasion though. The two detectives were not that interesting but the book is more about the plot than anything, so it does not take away from the story all that much. I will probably be reading the next thing this author writes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Torture, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Rape

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Xenophobia, and Suicidal thoughts