Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

71 reviews

aducharme4's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Violence, Gore, and Suicide

han_pear's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

I absolutely LOVED this book, I was hooked from the first chapter and I was telling everyone I knew about it, I even told a customer at work about (I work at a doggie daycare lol). The story is interesting and I think the direction the author went in was interesting regarding Claire. I LOVED the twist. In all honesty I put this book down for a bit because of life and work, but the twist sucked me right back in and held on tight until I was done. I was a bit disappointed the book ended where it did, and honestly I would devour an entire book about the Aurora’s voyage, the ship is so fascinating. HUGE RECOMMEND!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Gun violence, Confinement, Vomit, Mental illness, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol

sonygaystation's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Body horror, and Confinement

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Medical content, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Abandonment, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, and Drug use

cait's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

childdeirdre's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

2.0

It was agony to finish this book and I only managed because you can do other things while listening to an audiobook. I spent the last three hours hoping the ending would compensate for the previous ten. Half of the plot points don't make sense. There's just so much suspension of disbelief you can throw at things. And theain character is an absolute whiner (or at least the narrator plays it like that). I spent most of those 12 hours and 50 minutes wishing the author would put her (and, as a result, me) out of her mysery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

readingwithsierra's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

This was the creepy eerie space book I needed. Even though there wasn’t a lot happening, I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of this book. I enjoyed the dynamic between the team members and the perfect tension the author created between them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Confinement, and Gun violence

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Minor: Gaslighting

devynvictoria's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

This was one of those books that I got so wrapped up in and couldn’t put down. I think I finished it in 2 maybe 3 nights. I was really interested in finding out the mysteries of the ship and seeing what would happen next. The downsides were that I really didn’t like the main character, I wish there was more time dedicated to actually exploring the ship— those were the most interesting parts, and I wish the characters had been more fleshed out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Confinement

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol and Cursing

singalana's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

3.75

Titanic meets Event Horizon in this atmospheric space horror. 

A crew working on the edges of the known space picks up a distress signal from a luxury space liner Aurora that disappeared 20 years ago. They can't pass the opportunity to lay claim on the ship. When they board the Aurora, they soon discover that something is very wrong. 

We follow Claire Kovalik, a team leader of a five member beacon-repair crew. Even though the characters have their own personalities, I still feel that they need a little bit of work. Even though Claire is the main character, she seems to be keeping the reader at arm's length, and it's hard to feel connected to her somehow. Claire is a deeply traumatised person and that can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. Also there was a slight romance subplot that didn't really add to the story. 

Spoilers! 

The main strength of this book is definitely the imaginative, atmospheric horror elements. The first ⅔ of this book builds uneasiness and the horror elements nicely. However, the last ⅓, though still intense and pretty horrible, somehow ends up feeling almost like a Scooby Doo villain reveal. The style seemed a bit different, almost like I was reading a thriller instead of a horror story. I know it's difficult to come up with a satisfying ending to a story such as this, but still somehow I feel like the ending was a bit lacking. And in my opinion, the epilogue was a bit unnecessary, I could have done without it.

Still, good horror that makes the reader uneasy is hard to find. The author certainly manages to set up the scene and keep the reader guessing what horrors lie ahead. Despite the shortcomings, I would still recommend giving this book a go. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Violence, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Body horror, Death of parent, Vomit, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Confinement, and Medical content

billyjepma's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

First half is killer suspense and growing dread, while the second half is much more mechanical and makes some strange structural choices that I think were intended to make things less predictable but inadvertently bypass the stuff I was most interested in seeing more of. Still, a very fun read I would’ve torn through far quicker had other favors (i.e., I got COVID, lol) got in the way. As shaky (and occasionally pedestrian) as the writing can be, this absolutely scratched the itch I had for “scary spaceship vibes,” so consider it a 4-star read if you ever find yourself with a similar craving. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Death of parent, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol

cosmicpanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Self harm, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content and Suicide attempt