Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

71 reviews

bethnash'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

venusect'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? No

2.25

' So I liked this book at first, but after some thought into what just happened I realized it's a mess! There are a bunch lose ends and the motivation didn't really connect to the history of the hotel much. All of the characters were just poorly written and I feel like many details were just added in for the hell of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Rape and Violence

amythibodeau's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

elyssajoh's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Stalking, Sexism, Murder, Abortion, Violence, Torture, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

starrysteph's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

2.0

This was a huge miss - especially considering the concept. I was prepared for atmospheric horror in isolation, and I got a boring, lengthy read. 

The setting is a Sanatorium with a dark history (now converted into a modern hotel), hidden deep in the snowy mountains with shoddy cell service and avalanches barring escape. Sounds terrifying, right? Not here.

The pacing was maddeningly slow, the character development was nonexistent, and the men were walking red flags. The reason this is two stars instead of one is because I did appreciate some of the descriptive writing & as mentioned above, thought the concept was excellent.

Our main character, a detective dealing with lifelong panic attacks (starting with the death of her little brother as a child and amplified after a botched case), is shockingly inept. She does ... well .. just about everything wrong during her "investigation". And she is on the verge of tears throughout most of it, doubting herself and whining about her situation. I did not believe Elin was ever a detective (more like a casual true crime podcast listener).

Onto the mystery itself, which was painfully drawn out and filled with common tropes.

No spoilers, but the killer reveal and motivation was baffling. Totally far fetched - and the "clues" were ridiculous. Then, there's a tacked-on epilogue with a cliffhanger clearly intended to leave readers craving more Elin (it didn't work). 

This should have been a super high stakes read, and the setting should have been actually utilized (why wasn't the Sanatorium given any characterization?). It's too bad.

CW: murder, death, medical trauma, child death, rape, panic attacks, abortion, kidnapping, confinement, force institutionalization, psychosis, mental illness, torture

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Car accident

sabrinainbookland's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The only reason I pick this book up is because it was a Reese’s book club pic. I always love her recommendations, so I always tried to give those books a shot. This one was no different. 

The story was ok, the plot was a bit confusing at times, a lot of things happening al at once. I think it focus to much on the main character personal problems than on the mystery itself. 
The main character we are following wasn’t the best. I think I hadn’t had enough time to like her or care if she was going to die in the book.

The writing was good and the scenery was very vived, with I liked quite a lot. 

The epilogue was interesting and makes me questions if there will be a sequel to this story. Because it there isn’t , what was the point of the epilogue? 

The plot wasn’t the best thing in the world but it did make me want to know what would happen in the end. 

The ending was underwhelming and I honestly expected a lot more from this story considering that it was a Reese’s Book Club Pick. 

This is a books that I would recommend if you like a mystery/thriller book that isn’t complicated to follow, with a small cast of characters and don’t mind if the paced of the book is moderate, not fast but also not painfully slow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Abortion, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

selenatothemax's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Murder, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Blood, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

_terah_hansen_'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Torture, Sexual assault, and Rape

ekmook's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Blood, Confinement, Medical content, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexism

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Death of parent

erleabee's review against another edition

Very good book. Thrillers are not great for my anxiety or mental health at this time. I did read up on the summary of what happened and who did it to ease things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Torture, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Gore