Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Daisy Darker : A Novel by Alice Feeney, Alice Feeney

29 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

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

awebofstories's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

Alice Feeney is an author I've heard a lot about but had never read.  I chose this as my first Alice Feeney reading experience when I learned that it was meant to be an homage to Agatha Christie, which it pays successfully.

Between the time I heard about this and when I read it, I saw a lot of mixed reviews, and I get why that is.  This is based on And Then There Were None, which puts it in a difficult position.  Some readers will expect something they may not get, while others will feel it is treading on well-trod ground.  However, I didn't find myself torn on this point--in many ways, it was a love letter to Agatha Christie, and I was happy to go where Feeney was taking me.

Okay, I see how the ending can be divisive.  I fell into the camp of enjoying it, but I understand that others may not have liked it.  I thought I had the book figured out and was surprised at how things went, yet felt like it made sense when it was revealed.  I will say that there were some logistical issues in the end--not in how it ended, but more in the "how does that work?" sort of way.

I was struck by the loveliness of Feeney's writing and even copied out some passages that I found particularly evocative.  I felt that the pacing was perfect for this sort of story, and it kept me turning the pages.  

While there were a few things that I felt could have been improved, I did enjoy this book and I will be adding Alice Feeney's backlist to my TBR.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Medical trauma

_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

kimveach's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

This book took a long time to get to the big reveal.  While I liked the ending, I thought about quitting this book many times, which isn't good.  I much preferred the author's "Rock Paper Scissors."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death

addysongilmore's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

When I first started reading this book I didn't love it because I didn't feel connected to the characters. When I got to about 100 pages left aka the plot twists I fell in love with this book. And because I don't want to give anything away I'll just let you know from the beginning of the book the writing was an A++ along with the details and overall plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Torture, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, Car accident, Child death, and Confinement

mysterymom40's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

listened to ALC

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Murder, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Infidelity, Chronic illness, Bullying, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Blood, Animal death, Addiction, and Alcohol

uncomfortable situation with older teen and younger teen and consent to non-consent