Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

103 reviews

katharina90's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

I love stories that center dysfunctional families–so relatable. I’m also a fan of thrillers set in remote locations. This book checked both of those boxes. Sadly, I didn’t find it as atmospheric as Lucy Foley’s The Guest List, for example. 

Plot and writing overall were fine but character development was lacking so I wasn’t really invested. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse

amplawrence's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Gun violence, Child death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? No

5.0

This book was a wild ride and the plot twists left my head spinning.  I absolutely loved it. This was my first Alice Feeney book but it will definitely not be my last. It was spooky and atmospheric! It was suspenseful and left me on the edge of my seat! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Gore

penandpaper's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

An amazing book! At times, the build up and prose was a bit repetitive, but that’s a common problem with mysteries. This is a book about living in the past and needing to accept it to move on, and it’s very well done. The plot twist could be decisive (I first hated it, then loved it, then had lingering questions), but the book does a good job of balancing comfortable nostalgia with suspense and mystery. I think this is a book you’ll either love or hate from the ending.

I think the mechanics of the final twist could have been done better. Like, why does she stick around but not her relatives? Does the book set her free? What happens to Trixie? As much as I appreciate the sudden twist and the tie in to the beginning, I wish we had more information 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Murder, Death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Car accident, Ableism, Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Medical content, and Animal cruelty

____emily____'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse

mesulkin's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Child abuse

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: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Child death, Car accident, Chronic illness, Murder, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gore, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Abandonment, and Gun violence

Minor: Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dementia, Drug use, and Pregnancy

nodogsonthemoon'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? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

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

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

j_squaredd's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

2.0

The prose itself is honestly bad in the first half - clunky dialogue and overly metaphorical descriptions. It gets a little better in the second half; I wonder if this wasn’t an early novel that got taken out of the trunk. Also, I guessed the twist about a third of the way into the book, and if you - like me - like fair play mysteries, it’s absolute BS. I really only kept reading because I love closed circle mysteries enough to read some terrible books about them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Animal death, and Animal cruelty