Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Daisy Darker

It definitely gave off And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (which was mentioned in the book) plus the narrator was great, her voice was quite relaxing.

I went into this knowing nothing about it and I kinda recommend that. The plot is much more interesting that way in my opinion. However, it definitely felt dragged out and at times, it seemed like there were some unnecessary chapters but overall it was pretty entertaining.

The plot twist near the end got me. I wasn’t expecting that but I’m not sure how I felt about it at the same time. Everything tied in together to the poem of the family. Exposing the family secrets one by one leading them to the biggest secret of all and getting revenge for it after so many years.

And lastly, never cross Nana… or else you’ll end up like the rest of the Darker family.

Content Warnings

nataliahl's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Crafty, erratic, secretive.

Our MC is the youngest of three siblings with parents who don't really want to be parents, so they're often left in the care of their paternal grandmother. Our MC has a congenital heart condition that affected how others treated her growing up.
🇬🇧 Set at a large cottage on an isolated Cornish tidal island in 2004.
🎃 Set on Halloween night during a storm

🐺🐕Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags:
🔎 The majority of the plot was Arrested Development meets Clue. The single first person narrative works well to keep long-winded explanations and repetition to a minimum. We primarily get Daisy's insight, but we also get clues and POVs from the other characters based on their actions and the snappy dialogues. Everyone is literally a suspect at some point, even the deceased.

🏠 House layout included. Even at my grown-up age I love book illustrations, maps, and layouts accompanying stories. There is a lot of exploring and movement between rooms and since the majority of the plot takes place in the house (both present and past), it was nice to have words saved for the story and not for trying to describe the layout. [Small gripe: the North American copy used the term 'living room' for the 'lounge'].

👌 I loved the structure of the story, because it keeps things interesting and provides clues and creates suspense and mystery in a subtle way. We get the current murder mayhem, flashbacks from Daisy of growing up at Seaglass Cottage with her family intermingled with home videos showing things may not be exactly as everyone remembers, and creepy nursery rhyme excerpts (presumably from Nana's latest children's book) between each chapter.

😮 There is a twist I would normally be annoyed with because it's often used when a writer has cornered themselves. That wasn't the feel here, it felt like it was interwoven into the story and purposeful. This is on my re-read list because it'll feel like a different book knowing the ending. Some readers may have even predicted it because it isn't a side-swipe style twist that no one could figure out.

🧐 I spent a the beginning portion of the book thinking it was unbelievable that everyone purposefully placed a child that could require life-saving emergency services at any given moment on an island cut off from the world. As the story progressed it all made sense - all that family dysfunction, disregard for each other, and parental selfishness!

Mood Reading Match Up:

Clues and puzzle plots
Isolated, remote, closed circle mystery with people dropping like flies
Dark and stormy night whodunit
Hit of paranormal magical realism
Nostalgic found-footage feels and childhood flashbacks

Content Heads-Up: Disability/chronically ill child. Child death. Alcoholism (recovery and relapse). Child abuse (violence).

Format: Paperback

Content Warnings

bxnnny's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

i feel like i need to re-read this book now that i know what the twist is to see how much i missed! i enjoyed the pacing of the story and the obvious homage to agatha christie's and then there were none, which is such a great classic mystery. i felt that the writing/way the main character narrated was a little odd at first with all the analogies and metaphors, but it made more sense once the twist was revealed. i love a good locked room mystery and this was a fun one for me. this is also the second book i've read by alice feeney and i'm just as pleased with this one as i was with rock, paper, scissors. she just gets it!

Content Warnings

josiejeror's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

nobeeny_bookworm's review against another edition

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

3.75

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