Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

13 reviews

daybreakreads's review against another edition

This book is awful. It's repeatedly and unnecessarily greusome, graphic, and violent. Essentially all male characters have violent sex fantasies to the point where I googled the author. He’s a self/described sadist and masochist according to his interview with a UK news agency and gets a thrill “playing God” by writing his characters. This is disgusting given the repeated mutilation, torture, and r*pe mentions. I’ve read 20+ thrillers this year, but this was just downright distasteful.

There were also a large number of negative references made against Arabs and Muslims. At first I thought it was to give context to the characters’ terrible personalities, but there was another time that was just pure narration. One person asked another a question, and the question was described being, “as riddled with mines as a supply road in the Middle East.”

Honestly, as a Muslim, I don’t care if this author doesn’t like us (I certainly would not feel comfortable being alone with him or having him around any children I know) but it didn’t affect the plot in the slightest, so it seemed strange to be constantly added.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Murder, Physical abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Child death, and Blood

Minor: Confinement, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

katybugggg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death, Gore, Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

jettaparadis's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Gore, Blood, Torture, Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Car accident, Stalking, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

essie__reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? No

5.0

This book kept me hooked from the beginning. I tend not to enjoy thrillers because I often find them too predictable, but that was not the case with this book. I genuinely had no idea who the killer was or what their motive was, until it was revealed in the book. This book is over 500 pages but the chapters are short and fly by. There were several different characters introduced in the beginning which made the beginning a bit slow but they are easy to differentiate between and the rest of the book flowed very seamlessly. If you enjoy detective/police thrillers, I would highly recommend this one. I felt like the ending was left open enough for the possibility of a sequel, while still wrapping up the main plot very well. I am looking forward to watching the Netflix series adaptation!!

Please be advised to look up content warnings!!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Child death, Alcohol, Confinement, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Stalking, Violence, Torture, Trafficking, and Vomit

overbookedteacher's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Incest, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

sarah_speaks's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Body horror, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Stalking, Pedophilia, Gore, Blood, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Sexual content

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Alcoholism

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Rape, Trafficking, Stalking, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

cromen12's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Sexual violence

bookwormfr_t0's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? N/A

5.0

Do not be intimidated by the page count, all the chapter are 1 - 3 pages long.  It is extremely fast paced and despite the short chapters, there is a good amount of information in them to keep you turning the page - no fluff!  The twists and reveals were really well placed and paced, I could not figure it out.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

deezy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, and Violence