Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

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

charrrchar's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infertility

rachelmerrie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

Reading the author’s note put the book into perspective. I had these thoughts throughout the book, but wasn’t sure if she’d acknowledge them. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

bookssupremacy8920's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

brooke_city's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

More than "how you got him is how you lose him," this book is about mental health. And you spend the entire book in Isabelle's manic, obsessive thoughts. At times, that was a lot, as she tended to ramble on about the same things. But, it was a compelling read. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

tarynlannister's review against another edition

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

4.0

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. (After a second read, can confirm this! It's extremely well done.) I love how Willingham leads the reader into certain assumptions without ever lying. The fast-paced, short chapters are dangerous, it's easy to scarf down in a sitting or two. 

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. 

EDIT: (mild thematic spoilers)

after discussing with my book club, one thing that stands out to me is the very superficial look at true crime fandom. We only see true crime consumers briefly as ghoulish fans, eagerly feeding on Isabelle's and other victims' suffering. We could say Willingham is only criticizing that particular kind of fan, but it surprises me that it never went any deeper. 

True crime content is mostly consumed by women, and many women are at least partially motivated by a sense that learning about the tragedies of other women can make them safer, that they might be able to avoid a mistake that cost others their lives. The book comes so close to that idea, talking about "the violence" that can suddenly come into anyone's life without warning. I just wish if Willingham had wanted to touch on the complexity of true crime media consumption, she could have gone even just a little deeper than seeming to paint all consumers as ghouls feeding on others' pain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Gaslighting

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

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

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.

kmsander4's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

One year ago, Isabelle Drake's world was turned upside down. Her son, Mason, disappeared in the middle of the night. While it seems like everyone believes the worst, including her husband, Isabelle refuses to believe it. Clinging to hope and turning to the world of true crime and podcasts to help her find answers.

What unravels is a twisted story of trauma and tragedy. From devastating childhood memories that she's spent years repressing, to her own fears around her sleepwalking, Isabelle is forced to face the possibility that the person who harmed her son was actually herself.

This was a well-crafted mystery filled with tension and twists that the reader never could have seen coming. At first, you think there are simply too many mysteries to uncover but as the strings start to unveil themselves and you realize they're all linked, it becomes a fun case of "okay, but really...whodunit?!?"

Highly recommend to anyone looking for a dark thriller that'll keep you flipping pages late into the night.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

emmehooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Pregnancy

happyreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Pregnancy

mamalovesamystery's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

This thriller took me a bit to get into but once I was about 50 pages in, I was hooked! This story is about Isabelle whose son Mason disappeared overnight and no one knows what happened. Isabelle suffers from sleepwalking and is worried that maybe she did something horrible to her son while sleepwalking. 
This book deals with trauma and grief. It also deals with motherhood and how we often blame ourselves for everything as  mothers. I loved the main character’s character arc in this book.  This was one of the most satisfying endings I have read in the thriller genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting