Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

124 reviews

lighterthaneyre's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

And Then There Were None meets cheerful children's book author. Extremely fun read, builds a good level of suspense and weaving family history and drama.

I did call the twist ending, the narrator being a ghost, but it was still fun to guess how and when as the story goes on. And guessing WhoDunnit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Bullying, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, and Grief

annaonthepage's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This was a fun play on classic murder mysteries with a supernatural twist.

Great sense of voice for the ensemble of characters, and very well narrated on the audiobook. A little overwrought, and has some repetition that could have been edited out, so at times it feels a bit more like juvenile fiction than an adult murder mystery. I guess those are the trappings of part of the story. Very enjoyable, if not entirely convincing/satisfying in the reveal and wrap-up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, and Child death

The sexual assault is a very brief encounter between an 18yo and a 13yo, both drunk, and the 13yo tells the reader she is pleased at the attention, but it's already an uncomfortable situation and a polluted power dynamic. Thankfully this doesn't go all the way and ends when the girl says no.

jessspeake's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Grief, Suicide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Car accident, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Ableism, and Medical content

Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Infidelity

scarlatte16's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Child death

Moderate: Death and Animal death

blewballoon's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense 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

3.0

This wasn't quite what I was expecting. Yes, it's a locked room mystery type story where a group of people are trapped somewhere and they start dying one by one. Like some others stories with that premise, the people are mostly bad and hard to sympathize with, which makes their deaths seem less tragic. In this case, we also get loads of backstory from Daisy's perspective that seems to want to round out the characters of the family members and give them a little more depth, but ultimately still remind you that they are terrible people. I kind of want to re-read the story after the big reveal at the end, because it frames things in a very different light, but I didn't like the book enough to go through it twice. If you are looking for a thriller, this might be a little too slow paced for you. If you are looking for a spooky Halloween read (the main plot is set at Halloween), this may be too focused on family drama for you. The dysfunctional family and episodes from their past are really the focus. I listened on audiobook and I think the narrator made it a lot more enjoyable than I would have found it otherwise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Medical content

evawhite's review against another edition

mysterious fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Suicide, and Child death

nozycozy's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

2.75

It was a slow burn and I started to feel bored in the middle of it but then things picked up at the 75% mark. I liked the beginning of the story and the ending was interesting but one twist was not convincing and it felt underwhelming but overall it was an okay mystery read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Ableism, Murder, and Car accident

Moderate: Grief, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Suicide

plantsandpints's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Ableism, Child abuse, Murder, and Suicide

smillaaa_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Child death