Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

24 reviews

leebeeloves's review

dark mysterious slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Murder

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Torture, Child death, and Rape

Minor: Infertility and Abortion

keppers_jax's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

EXCELLENT IN AUDIO! Elizabeth Knowelden is an extremely talented narrator who seems to master many accents (flavors of British, French, German, American) and, at least to my American ear, also speaks flawless French and some German. 

As for the book, I struggled with how to rate this one. I enjoyed the story, but so much of it I was angry with the recklessness of the MC. In the end, I'm going with 4 stars because I enjoyed the story, there were several heart-pounding moments where I may have been holding my breath and though I figured out who the villain was, I didn't figure everything out. Plus, the Epilogue left me wanting more! Can't wait to read the next in this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Sexism, and Gore

Minor: Abortion, Infertility, and Rape

amandalachelle's review

dark mysterious sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Stalking, Medical content, Death, Gore, Grief, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Body horror, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

vilma_ellen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Infertility, and Death of parent

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Really interesting murder mystery. I didn’t know the bad guy until it was revealed and honestly hadn’t even considered the culprit for that role. I couldn’t put this one down — stayed up til the wee hours reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Infertility, Medical content, Torture, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

jjames_mal's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This thriller follows our protagonist Elin Warner, a detective on forced leave from her job as she travels to a hotel (previous sanatorium) to meet her estranged brother and his fiancée. But then they get snowed in, and murders happen.

I just couldn’t get behind this book. Everything the main character does so is obviously a bad idea and then she is shocked when bad things happen. For how dark the motivation was, the villain’s whole way of doing things was nonsensical. Honestly I know this is the start of a detective series, but I kind of wish the aspects of police procedural were not in this book. 

If you like your detective books to tackle serious issues but have cheesy detective tropes, you might like this one, but I won’t be continuing with this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gore

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Infertility, Abortion, and Infidelity

kk_gotit_goinon's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a true thriller, through and through. I was on the edge of my seat the whole book, and just when I thought I had it figured out it threw me through another loop! Super exciting, not too gory or bloody. It's a crime show crossed with Stella Gets Her Groove back, I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Murder, and Medical content

magical_mads's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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

1.5

The characters were very unlikable and frustrating. There were at least four or five plot twists within the last 100 pages. The motivations behind the murders made no sense. And then there was a feminist twist thrown in at the very end so that the author could make some social commentary or some thing, which was handled very poorly (in my opinion). I’m so disappointed because this kind of premise/commentary is 100% sent the thing that I normally go for. But this book is a no for me.

Also, I hated how in the topic of rape was treated in this book. It felt like it was shoved in as a last minute plot twist. It should never be treated like that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Stalking, Torture, Gaslighting, and Gore

Minor: Infertility, Rape, Abortion, and Sexual assault

saraneyd'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Grief, Infertility, Rape, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Child abuse, and Death

moeisme1972's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Infertility, Abortion, Torture, and Rape