Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

26 reviews

fdap's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

I was a little disappointed in this, I think it could have been shorter, and there’s a lot of just straight exposition instead of dialogue. The mystery and premise were good and the characters were pretty solid. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death

marrie_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Animal death

ellathorpe's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Suicide

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

singalana's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

Kirjan kuvaus oli sen verran hämmentävä, että en oikein tiennyt minkä tyyppistä kirjaa olin alkamassa lukea: onko tämä jännityskertomus, salapoliisikertomus, romanssi vai kummitusjuttu? No, oikeastaan tämä on vähän niitä kaikkia.

Kirja sijoittuu 1940-luvun sodanjälkeiseen Englantiin. Kirjan päähenkilö, tohtori Faraday kutsutaan hoitamaan sairastunutta palvelustyttöä rappioituneeseen kartanoon. Faraday tututstuu perheeseen ja saa pian huomata, että kartanossa tapahtuu kummallisia asioita.

Tunnelmaa rakennetaan vähitelle ja se kantaa läpi kirjan. Kirjailija on onnistunut toteuttamaan mysteerin niin, että lukijan epäilykset säilyvät loppuun asti. Teosta on vaikea kuvata ilman että paljastaa tarinasta liikaa, mielestäni se kannattaa ehdottomasti kokea itse avoimin mielin. 

Tässä tarinassa on elementtejä, joista monet lukijat eivät välttämättä pidä, joten lista niistä spoilerilinkin takana. Mielestäni kaikki nämä elementit olivat kuitenkin paikallaan tässä kirjassa ja sopivat hyvin yleiseen tunnelmaan ja siihen, mitä kirjailija todennäköisesti tavoitteli.

• Kirja on yleissävyltään ahdistava, melkein masentava.
   
• Kirjailija rakentaa tunnelmaa hitaasti. Itse nautin tästä, mutta osa lukijoista saattaa olla sitä mieltä, että kirja on turhan pitkä ja tekstiä olisi pitänyt trimmata.
• Päähenkilö tohtori Faraday ei välttämättä ole samaistuttava hahmo. Hän tuntuu "gaslightaavan" hahmoja. Lisäksi hän painostaa perheenjäseniä tekemään asioita mitä he eivät halua.
• Kirjan loppu jätetään eräällä tavalla avonaiseksi. Jos tällaisista lopusta ei tykkää, saattaa loppuratkaisuun pettyä.

Kansi: Kirjan kansi voisi olla parempi jos ylimääräiset elementit otettaisiin pois ja jätettäisiin vain kartano ja värimaailma.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

micallab's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

lay_kone's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

phantompansy's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Self harm and Vomit

jillaay_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

cathyrodgers's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

4.5

An atmosphere of dread carries throughout the book. Although the plot seemed to drag on too long, especially in the middle, I still was glued to this audiobook and listened to it for hours and hours at a time.  On the surface, this is the story of a poltergeist in a haunted house.  By the end you realize there's a lot more going on.

On a deeper level, the novel is about the poisonous jealousies of a petty little boy - the poltergeist is an evil manifestation of the anger and resentment Dr. Faraday feels every time he's rejected or shamed by someone at the house.  Faraday's over the top obsession with The Hundreds house began as a child, in the opening of the novel, when he's so driven to possess the house, he vandalized it by breaking an acorn away from the plaster inside the house.  The first sign that the house has been infected by Faraday's obsessive/evil/little stranger occurs when the oldest daughter gets sick and dies after witnessing Faraday get slapped by his mother for having vandalized the house.  The ending, with Faraday saying that even though he looks for other people/the poltergeist/the little stranger in the old abandoned house, all he sees is the reflection of his own face in the empty windows - was excellent.  The ending also confirms that Faraday has been an unreliable narrator all along.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Suicide

Minor: Child death