Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

34 reviews

jessk's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Addiction, Infertility, Suicide, and Pregnancy

kimberlina82's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

rceparski's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Kidnapping

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy

cdkm9's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I read this all the way through in one sitting. An excellent mystery that was engaging and kept me guessing until the end. The author also did an excellent job of weaving together the past and present story lines. At times I felt like I was actually in the main character’s head, with thoughts drifting in the past and then abruptly being brought back to the present. Most of the time when books try to do this it is just confusing, but this author pulls it off in a masterful way.

 It also was thought-provoking and I appreciated the commentary in the ‘Author’s Note’ (but don’t read that til after you’ve read the book).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Infertility, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

snoopyfanclub's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Infertility

colorcrystals's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infertility, Violence, and Suicide attempt

chocolateturtle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

throwback682's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

It’s so hard to describe this book (or even give trigger warnings) without also giving spoilers. 

I think the author did a really good job of keeping you guessing and adding plenty of twists without it being heavy handed or corny. The narrator is both deeply sympathetic and deeply unsympathetic at the same time somehow. This was one I couldn’t put down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, and Stalking

It’s hard to give TW without spoiling but many of the major trigger warnings surround motherhood in some way

sagesanctum's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Wow. I was surprised by this one.

This is my first real venture into the horror/thriller genre; typically I'm more of a "only books with a guaranteed happy ending" type of reader. I read to improve my mood, so I usually don't try anything I think might be too depressing. Despite this, I joined the local book club in an effort to broaden my horizons, and All the Dangerous Things was the book chosen.

Right out the gate, I wasn't thrilled to be reading this one. I'm a parent to young children and I DO NOT enjoy reading literally anything involving even the possibility of child harm or death, so the idea of reading a book about a missing child truly did not appeal to me. And honestly, for a good... half? three-quarters of the way through the book? Still wasn't vibing with it. Most of the characters are unlikable. Isabelle herself, despite being a sympathetic character because of her circumstances, quickly and progressively becomes less likable through the story. Other characters--either through their own behavior or simply because we're learning about them through Isabelle's lens--are also unpleasant for different reasons. Some things that happen in the book? Not my cup of tea.

However, I did like the writing style. Some people complained about the sprawling descriptions and metaphoric language, but I really liked it. I feel like it fits Isabelle's character, given her career choice. I do agree the pacing could use some more progressive ramp-up, since I think I didn't really start feeling much tension until maybe 200+ pages in? Which I suspect is a bit slow for a thriller. That being said, the twist was spectacular and the ending was both unexpected and satisfying.

Thus, I am giving it 3.75 stars. It's solidly written, the conclusion makes the story worth a try if you can tolerate the initially-slow buildup, but I don't think I'd read it more than one time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

lrecord's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

I listened to this book while I worked. It was easy to listen to and follow along even though I was busy with other things.

I really love how the author wrote her characters as women who made good choices, bad choices and everything in-between. There is so much nuance to the characters and why they do the things they do. 

There were definitely twists and turns.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy