Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger

17 reviews

outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Hannah has some misgivings as she leaves for a luxury weekend away with her husband, her brother Mako & his wife, & best friend Cricket & new squeeze. It's the first time Hannah has been away from her baby so she is understandably anxious but also her husband has been acting suspiciously of late. Hannah doesn't want to jump to 'is he cheating' but what else could it be with secret phone-calls & emails he doesn't want her to see? As the six friends arrive for a weekend of outdoor activities & indoor luxury, the weather changes & the group are stuck in the isolated cabin. Furthermore there's something a bit off with their rental owner & the house has a tragic backstory. As the weather cools outside, inside tempers heat up, & it seems someone has a deadly agenda.

This author's books seem to be a bit hit & miss for me: I really liked Under My Skin but wasn't keen on Last Girl Ghosted. This one sits in the middle, it's quite good but I didn't really like it much. The characters are necessarily mostly unlikeable & the reader experiences most events through Hannah's eyes but the second strand of the story which is told by a character called Henry takes you out of the secret-filled cabin which dilutes the tension. The stories do eventually dovetail but it only partly works. 

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theimposter's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.75

I had a hard time getting into it because it was slow and had many many perspectives and flashbacks. But at about 75% into the book, it got good. 

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melmertsis's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0


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marjshopes's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.0


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mcgraeil's review against another edition

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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

I was intrigued from the beginning. I was able to predict some of the twists, and I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable, but that didn’t bother me much since I enjoyed the suspense of still trying to figure out how we got there. The pacing was good for the most part, and I would recommend this one for readers who enjoy a good locked-room mystery. 

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atypicalbeth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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julienicole1106's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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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honey_coated_chapters's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

°:. *₊ ° . ° .•
𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 4.5/5
𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔: 392
𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔: 
•multiple (like 6 people deep) POVs
•cinematic 
•dual/converging timelines
🚨TW: rape, suicide, violence, abortion, infertility, killing of an animal, child abuse🚨
🌲🧬
First and foremost, this book had so many main characters and side characters to keep up with I literally had to drew a map and take notes. It was well written and well constructed - the tension was palpable and I felt the urgency and fear of everyone in the cabin. It’s definitely a rollercoaster of a page-turner, something I had a hard time putting down when it was at a high… However, there were times when the story just plateaued - whether that be because of redundancy in the plot/writing or too much focus on the side-story, that I lost interest. There’s 2 different storylines happening within the book, it’s not incredibly hard to separate but I found myself asking “okay and this is relevant how??” A lot. It comes together (kind of) in the end, but even then I could’ve done without the seemingly irrelevant information. It was cinematic in the amount of characters and the overall atmospheric tone - there was a lot of texture, sensory information, I felt like I was there and terrified alongside the characters. But it was a bit messy and convoluted. 
📹💾
There is a lot of emphasis on family - found and biological. And the author stresses chemistry vs. biology, which I found interesting. (For example, the idea that you have more chemistry and ease around your best friend, than you do your cousin.) I absolutely loved the ending, it came together pretty well for the most part. There was one plot hole that frustrated me because it was presented as important but then never brought up again? The plot redundancy/irrelevancy along with the repeated words (akimbo, skein) garnered an otherwise perfect book, a 4.5.

was anyone else pissed that Bracken just like…….. skated by? Also can we discuss how Henry has memory of looking into the eyes of another woman who wasn’t Alice? Or when he remembered being sung to????
 

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artemisiaday's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

2.5

Not the atmospheric woodland read I was hoping for lol.

15+ characters mentioned, though it's outwardly apparent who's at fault within the first few chapters.

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dietmtndew's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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