Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Daisy Darker : A Novel by Alice Feeney, Alice Feeney

55 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i absolutely loved this book. it was like a less racist and homophobic version of And Then We Were None by Agatha Christie. if someone would’ve proposed this book to me i would’ve never read it because the tropes seem cliché and underwhelming. however, the execution was flawless. she delivered these tropes i normally find stupid in such an impressive and compelling way imo. also the end interaction between two of the main characters genuinely brought me to tears. i would ABSOLUTELY recommend this to almost anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Medical content, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

elwan_enchanted's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

There was a lot I enjoyed about this book, namely the structure and parallels to And Then There Were None.  I anticipated the first twist pretty early into the book, and that was fun.  The part I struggled with was that so much of the end/backstory felt just gratuitously, unnecessarily sad.  For me, it took away from the rest of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Blood

theonlybaillie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

Wasn't amazing, wasn't awful.

I enjoyed my time with it, but I wouldn't reread it.

Deeply okay.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness and Murder

Minor: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Gun violence, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

_savannahreads_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Murder, Body horror, Death of parent, and Terminal illness

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gun violence, and Medical trauma

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

The narration style of this book was quite unique. It felt more like sitting at a table with Daisy over tea and listening as she recollected memories, while everyone else bustles about. There are a few twists in here I was not expecting AT ALL. And while it took me a bit to warm up to this book, by the end I was invested

and devastated.

This is the second book I read and loved by Alice Feeney and I’ll definitely be reading more by this author in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Medical content, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Blood

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

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

It was a dark and stormy night… okay, but really—it was a dark and stormy night on an isolated island off the coast of Cornwall, where an estranged family has gathered for Nana Darker’s 80th birthday. Albeit awkward considering their weird family dynamic, a tense celebration of sorts ensues until Nana turns up dead at the stroke of midnight. One by one, the family members disappear accompanied by cryptic, poetic messages, but whodunit?? 

I can’t say too much without giving the whole story away, but this was a fun murder mystery! For sure a more modern take on Agatha Christie mysteries with a little “Knives Out” action. It also reminded me, at times, of “The Prestige” and “Shutter Island”. 

I will say that I guessed the final twists fairly early on, but still felt the satisfying shock when they were unveiled, as some pieces I definitely had not put together. 

The writing style was great, though I did find the book a little too long, and some of the flashbacks stunted the flow of the story a tad. Also, don’t go into this one expecting to like any of the characters—some I rather loathed, which was part of the point of course. 

Overall, a very on-brand read for Halloween season!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Abandonment, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Alcohol, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Death, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, Sexual content, Animal death, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

tspice24's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content

icieri's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, and Suicide

sampetsdogs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Y'all, she did it again. Alice Feeney is the QUEEN of plot twists and Daisy Darker left my jaw on the floor. She kept me guessing the entire time! This book is so disturbing and intriguing and, honestly, mind-blowing. 100% recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Bullying

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Death, Grief, and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Death of parent

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

OH MY GOODNESS, I was not expecting this story! I read "Rock, Paper, Scissors" last year and loved it, so "Daisy Darker" has been on my radar, but I tried to not read too much about it before I could pick it up, and boy am I happy that I went into this story not knowing much of anything. 
"Daisy Darker" follows a woman named Daisy as she and her family return to her grandmother's house on the eve of her grandmother's 80th birthday. Her grandmother was told by a palm reader that she will not live past 80, and she has long believed this to be true. Before she passes away, she wants the family to be together one last time so she can share her will with the Darker clan. Daisy has always had a special relationship with her grandmother and has always felt like an outcast from the rest of her family. Daisy was born with a heart defect, and she was always kept safe inside, but she also felt like her family did not love her because of her heart, except for her grandmother. Her grandmother's home is on a remote peninsula that during high tide is inaccessible. Now, with the whole Darker family trapped, people start dying one by one, and no one knows who the killer might be. 
This book took me a little while to get into (about 70 pages), but once I was invested, I read the rest of the book in one sitting. Most of the Darker family is absolutely horrible and you are almost happy to see them die, but you are still so curious to uncover who the killer is. I did not see most of the twist coming, and I ended up screaming when the big and final twist was revealed. I was so heartbroken the entire time for Daisy because her family has always treated her so terribly. Her sisters were vicious to her, and her parents were absent. Daisy had both literally and figuratively a broken heart and it was devastating to see. 
I LovED this book and I hope everyone reads and loves it as much as I did!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Drug use, and Sexual harassment