Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

8 reviews

feralbookwife's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

Fast paced, solid mystery. Kept me guessing until the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Vomit, Blood, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Murder, Trafficking, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

tifftastic87's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Isabel Drake is a mother slowly unraveling from the kidnapping of her son. We enter the story one year after his disappearance, the police have no leads and the only clue is an open window. Izzy is distraught, and suffering from severe insomnia, her husband has left her and she has no one to turn to for help. She's been throwing herself into researching all of her neighbors and telling her story at true crime conventions, where she meets Waylon. Waylon is a young podcaster invested in her story and his appearance changes Izzy's investigation and everything she knows. 

I wasn't sure about this one at first, but the way it stuck with me. The bits we know about Izzy's life come out in drips and drabs over the course of the book. We get tiny flashbacks to her childhood and her meeting her husband. All of these flashbacks and the little  morsels of information we get serve to paint her as an unreliable narrator, and then add to that her extreme lack of sleep and you have a portrait of a woman losing her mind and her grip on ... well everything. 

The twists were foreshadowed nicely in a way that really made you think Izzy was even more unhinged than she is. I didn't expect most of them and I really didn't expect the outcome at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Drug abuse

Minor: Murder

tarynlannister's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I'm not ashamed to admit I didn't guess many of the twists in All the Dangerous Things, but the clues really were there for those more astute than me. The fast-paced, short chapters are dangerous, like a package of small sweets you suddenly realize you've devoured all of. I'm also a huge sucker for an unreliable narrator, and Isabelle's insomnia is well utilized in that way. 

This reminded me of The Girl on the Train in construction and some themes, so if you enjoyed that I think you will enjoy this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Kidnapping

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Stalking, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, and Violence

Overall, fairly mild violence for a mystery novel involving or referring to a few deaths. There is some discussion of a mother attempting murder-suicide with her child during a case of postpartum mental illness, and (late book spoilers, but should read if that theme would bother you)

the mother does kill a child

. There is also at least one instance of intentional tampering with birth control to cause a pregnancy without one partner's consent.

lindsayerin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Mental illness, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Drug abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship

bunni4evaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Stacy Willingham is an amazing writer. I always think I know what’s going on and then she flips it. Multiple times! I can’t wait for her next book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Death, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Suicide, Child death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Murder

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

This book was a little slower burn than A Flicker in the Dark, but after the first 80 pages, I couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Blood, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Sexual content

rusereviews's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham is a contemporary psychological thriller and her sophomore book. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at ten hours and is narrated by Karissa Vacker. We jump back and forth between two time periods in this book: present day and the main character's childhood.

Isabelle Drake is a desperate mother with a troubled past. A year ago, her young son Mason was taken from his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were sleeping soundly. Unfortunately there are no official leads in the case. With a year's worth of sleep deprivation, she literally cannot rest until her son is found.

I definitely inhaled this book. I'm generally a fan of thrillers were you're not sure if the narrator is reliable or not. Speaking of narration, Karissa Vacker performs wonderfully. The author does a great job with ~*~vibes~*~ and atmosphere. I particularly liked her descriptions of the setting, especially around marshes.

Though the pacing might seem a bit slow for a thriller, I wanted to keep listening to find out what was going to happen next. I ended up finishing the book in three sittings. I had quite a few theories, and only a handful of them ended up correct. There was one particular twist I really didn't see coming.

I'm definitely going to check out Willingham's debut book, A Flicker in the Dark.

I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Minor: Drug abuse, Violence, Suicide, and Murder

readingwithrylanne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Sigh. I do believe that Stacy Willingham is now 2 for 2 on making me cry by the end of her thrillers, and for what? Why is it always the books about murder, serial killers, kidnappings, etc etc. that make me cry? Anyway, All the Dangerous Things was an easy five-star read for me-I binged it in less than 12 hours. The audiobook was phenomenal as well and had me captivated from the first couple chapters. I love thrillers that blur the line between reality and the unknown as well as utilize unreliable characters and plot markers. I had so much fun with this book and couldn't help but keep making my way through the chapters without stopping.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Kidnapping, and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse and Emotional abuse