Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Daisy Darker : A Novel by Alice Feeney, Alice Feeney

17 reviews

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

You know as I was reading I knew this wasn't going to be my favorite thriller, but Alice Feeny was the 1st ever thriller author I've ever read so I decided to give her another go after all this time considering I've been craving a thriller. Now the first 60 pages or so are very slow, almost reaching dnf territory but I decided to trust the process and it definitely did get more interesting after that. Lots of red herrings and misdirects. There were some dull parts, but I was enjoying my time overall until 90%-ish when we found out the "big twist". I already guessed who the murderer was, but the twist had me subconsciously rolling my eyes. Like c'mon.

I will say this till I'm blue in the face, but I can't stand when thriller authors make a non-supernatural story supernatural just for shock value. It will always feel like a cop-out to me. I did like the reason behind why Trixie and Nana murdered the family though. It was sweet, macabre, but sweet.

This book was approaching a solid four stars until the twist, but it was an okay book overall. Oh also, something that irked me was how deliberately poetic the author was trying to make this book. Like it felt like every paragraph was filled with some nonsensical metaphor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicide, and Medical content

hsage21's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

thebookaddict's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Jeetje mineetje wat een boek. Ik heb dit boek verslonden. Ik vond dit in het begin een vreemd boek, maar na het lezen van het einde valt alles op zijn plek. Wat een einde zeg, ik zag dit niet aankomen maar het is zo logisch. Alle details kloppen! De gedichten in het boek maken het in mijn mening af, het geeft een luguber tintje aan het boek. Ik heb hem gelezen in April, maar ik raad aan om hem rond Halloween te lezen, dan kom je helemaal in de spooky vibes. Ik ga zeker meer van deze auteur lezen en dit boek is op mijn toplijst komen te staan!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

fanboyriot's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

It definitely gave off And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (which was mentioned in the book) plus the narrator was great, her voice was quite relaxing.

I went into this knowing nothing about it and I kinda recommend that.  The plot is  much more interesting that way in my opinion.  However, it definitely felt dragged out and at times, it seemed like there were some unnecessary chapters but overall it was pretty entertaining.  

The plot twist near the end got me.  I wasn’t expecting that but I’m not sure how I felt about it at the same time.  Everything tied in together to the poem of the family.  Exposing the family secrets one by one leading them to the biggest secret of all and getting revenge for it after so many years.

And lastly, never cross Nana… or else you’ll end up like the rest of the Darker family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

cyndi1966's review against another edition

adventurous 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: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, and Suicide

rose_reads_at_dusk's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I think this is the first thriller I have ever read, and might I just say 🤯
I had guessed quite early on part of the twist but there was definitely some of it that really was shocking 😳

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

tylerrose15161's review against another edition

I love murder mystery books, but my god was this difficult to get into and couldn't hold my attention. The pace and the tone of the book/narration was so slow and dragged on. The thing I disliked the most was that the main character Daisy, whose POV you stay locked into throughout the book, she repeatedly states that "she has a secret" and other ominous claims that her family has holes in them, they're not what they appear to be, etcetera  etcetera. Which normally wouldn't be an issue, but when these statements get repeated 10 times within the first 4 chapters, it no longer builds suspense for the reader. Instead it gives off the same energy as someone who posts on social media that they've had a bad day and when someone reaches out to ask if they're okay, they respond saying they don't want to talk about it. So it's extremely annoying.

I ended up reading a summary breakdown of the book instead of actually reading it because of these reasons. And even going through the breakdown, I was still left uninterested.

As for the ending of the book, it did manage to surprise me by revealing a plot twist that I wasn't expecting. But at the same time, it wasn't enough to redeem the book itself. It left me with the feeling of "that's it?".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Car accident

uranaishi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Abortion, and Pregnancy

sunsetcity's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Was this perfect? No. Did I have a lot of fun? Yes! 
I feel like I can't say anything about this without giving shit away so I'm going to leave it at that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death, Fatphobia, and Pedophilia