Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Daisy Darker: A Novel by Alice Feeney

37 reviews

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Daisy Darker’s family returns to Seaglass for Nana’s 80th birthday…but then they begin dying off one by one while trapped on the island at high tide, and family secrets come to light that will change everything.

This is my favorite of Alice Feeney’s novels so far! I’m a sucker for an And Then There Were None homage, and the setting/atmosphere of this one is absolutely perfect—seaside house, cut off from the world by a storm and high tide, and lots and lots of dead bodies piling up over one extra-creepy Halloween night. There’s also some very eerie poetry that really adds to the tension overall.

Most of all, I absolutely loved the writing style of this one—there are so many absolutely beautiful poignant quotes and brilliant details. And, while I won’t say more for fear of spoilers, I absolutely did not see the main twist coming (and audibly shouted at my book when it happened).

Highly recommend this to all thriller fans!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: locked room mysteries; dark family sagas; creepy seaside vibes

CW: Lots of death/blood/violence; discussions of terminal illness; discussion of animal death; physical and emotional abuse; suicide

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault

dayingst's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicide, and Pregnancy

zalouis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Alcohol

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

toomanytbr's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

emmehooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

4.0

Gooped, gagged, shocked (I’ve never read any Agatha Christie so I didn’t know the trope coming in). Every time I thought I had something figured out, I was wrong. Going back after I finished reading, there were so many clever hints, semantics, and clues spread in the book. 

I enjoyed the blending of flashbacks and present, good pacing, and a plot I am very excited to talk about at book club!!! 

The ending was quite full circle but I wish there was a little more to answer a few lingering questions. A huge build-up to such a short conclusion despite leaving so much room for more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicide, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Blood

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

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

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: Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness and Murder

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

readingwithtrey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Book Review || ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 

Wow! This review will be short and sweet because I think it’s best to go into this one blind.

Daisy Darker is my second Alice Feeney read (the other being Rock, Paper, Scissors) and it easily takes the top spot. I don’t even know how to write this, because this book left me SHOOK & speechless.

This is a dark & twisty read, but I would also add that it’s incredibly heartbreaking. I guessed one twist but for the life of me could not figure the killer. There was one teeeny thing that left me with a question, but nothing that took away from the story.

I highly recommend Daisy Darker and it’s the perfect book for spooky season!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence