Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Daisy Darker, by Alice Feeney

6 reviews

penandpaper's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

An amazing book! At times, the build up and prose was a bit repetitive, but that’s a common problem with mysteries. This is a book about living in the past and needing to accept it to move on, and it’s very well done. The plot twist could be decisive (I first hated it, then loved it, then had lingering questions), but the book does a good job of balancing comfortable nostalgia with suspense and mystery. I think this is a book you’ll either love or hate from the ending.

Spoiler

I think the mechanics of the final twist could have been done better. Like, why does she stick around but not her relatives? Does the book set her free? What happens to Trixie? As much as I appreciate the sudden twist and the tie in to the beginning, I wish we had more information 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Murder, Death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Car accident, Ableism, Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Injury/injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Medical content, and Animal cruelty

jennyoli96's review

challenging mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Medical content, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Cursing and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death and Body shaming

uranaishi's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Child death, Car accident, Chronic illness, Murder, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gore, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Abandonment, and Gun violence

Minor: Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dementia, Drug use, and Pregnancy

thatswhatshanread's review

dark mysterious 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

4.0

It was a dark and stormy night… okay, but really—it was a dark and stormy night on an isolated island off the coast of Cornwall, where an estranged family has gathered for Nana Darker’s 80th birthday. Albeit awkward considering their weird family dynamic, a tense celebration of sorts ensues until Nana turns up dead at the stroke of midnight. One by one, the family members disappear accompanied by cryptic, poetic messages, but whodunit?? 

I can’t say too much without giving the whole story away, but this was a fun murder mystery! For sure a more modern take on Agatha Christie mysteries with a little “Knives Out” action. It also reminded me, at times, of “The Prestige” and “Shutter Island”. 

I will say that I guessed the final twists fairly early on, but still felt the satisfying shock when they were unveiled, as some pieces I definitely had not put together. 

The writing style was great, though I did find the book a little too long, and some of the flashbacks stunted the flow of the story a tad. Also, don’t go into this one expecting to like any of the characters—some I rather loathed, which was part of the point of course. 

Overall, a very on-brand read for Halloween season!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Abandonment, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Alcohol, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Injury/injury detail, Terminal illness, Death, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, Sexual content, Animal death, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

addysongilmore's review

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

When I first started reading this book I didn't love it because I didn't feel connected to the characters. When I got to about 100 pages left aka the plot twists I fell in love with this book. And because I don't want to give anything away I'll just let you know from the beginning of the book the writing was an A++ along with the details and overall plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Torture, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, Car accident, Child death, and Confinement

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Death, Suicide, Murder, Bullying, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Car accident, Gun violence, Medical content, and Cursing

Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Ableism