Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

3 reviews

dblue236's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

This was definitely not my favorite of this author's books, but it was a solid thriller with some twists I didn't see coming. The reveal regarding one particular character SHOULD have been obvious, but I managed to gloss right over it somehow until shortly before it was unveiled. Overall this was a great story and I enjoyed it, but it definitely isn't the best indicator of how talented Peter Swanson really is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

yvonne_aaf's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

5.0

This was such an interesting reading experience!

The first thing I noticed was the writing style, especially in the chapters following Matthew, in that it felt bizarrely childlike, but also not, at the same time. I think this was such a masterful way of writing this story because it really emphasised the way in which Matthew is almost mentally frozen in his childhood, because of what happened to him, and how he still sees the world with a childish, naive, black-or-white sense of justice.

Because this book panned out in a way most thrillers don’t, I often found myself asking ‘where do we go from here?’ but I also never felt that the story was dragging its feet. Everything felt so purposeful, and I enjoyed being a spectator! I kinda guessed the twist as it neared, but thought it would be completely improbable, so I was surprised when it ended up being the case. However, it was executed so well, and looking back there were hints/clues that I completely missed, and I could see this being a good book to reread and annotate.

The characters were written really well, I felt that most of them were layered and complex, and I found myself having a lot of empathy for people that, in any other book, I would probably have despised. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a psychological thriller, with more emphasis on the psychological aspect :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Blood, and Murder

victoria_2002's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail