Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Whisper Man by Alex North

25 reviews

haileyhardcover's review

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

Holy crap this book was CHILLING. A serial killer who goes after kids is always going to be especially horrific, but North did an incredible job building up the anxiety as you realize the real horror of the situation at the same time as the characters do. There’s a really interesting supernatural element to the story (or, is there?) but by and large it is, unfortunately, an entirely plausible story which makes it all the more terrifying. At the end of one chapter in particular, my heart was beating out of my chest! No book has ever scared me like this one did. 

There are also several reveals throughout the course of the story. Though a couple seemed a little obvious to me, there was one specific one where my jaw very literally, almost comically, DROPPED.

There are also deeper tones to The Whisper Man. Beyond the thrills and the horror, the story examines the complexity of father-son relationships from multiple, vastly different angles. It also does a great job of portraying the on-going battle of addition recovery (specifically alcoholism, but I think the portrayal would translate well to any addiction) and what the daily struggle to remain sober can look like for many. 

I am giving this book five stars because, at the end of the day, it has accomplished what no book ever REALLY has and legitimately scared me, so it feels deserved; but I don’t think I would say it’s perfect. Listen, I award my stars how I want to. Deal with it! 

The story jumps between five different points of view, which can be a little confusing at times, especially when you’re not always immediately sure whose point of view you’re reading. One point of view is Jake’s, and it did occur to me as I was reading that I don’t think North accounted for how differently a child might think and process these situations. There was a point when it was acknowledged that Jake had a better grasp on vocabulary than most other kids his age, which I think was a way of addressing this disparity, but it felt a little off to me. I also felt like the book had a slower start. While the first chapter gets your blood pumping, it slows down pretty considerably and for quite a few chapters after that. It’s all important story building, but the first third of the book or so is a little slow. Still, the chapters are short (often 3-4 pages!) so it is an easy one to binge and get through pretty quick! 

If you have children or kiddos that you love in your life, keep in mind that this one is going to be a tough and terrifying read, but it is still really good and I absolutely recommend it. It’s one that is going to sit with me… probably forever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

nicoletiff's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-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

3.5

I’ve got mixed feelings on this one. It was just so gloomy and depressing throughout, and that ending was truly awful. I also was relatively confused throughout this book, and a lot of the plot points didn’t really make a lot of sense to me or I felt like I didn’t buy into how the plot points connected because it felt too convenient. That being said, the book did keep my attention and I was intrigued by the mystery element to see how everything unfurled. I do read a lot of thrillers and horrors so I’m used to gruesome, disturbing content, but this one was a tough read due to the content and has a lot regarding death, grieving and harm to children. I really don’t think I’d recommend this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood

khowick24's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

4.75/5 
This book had short chapters, quick pace, interesting characters and a good plot. I thought I had it figured out twice but I was wrong.  I felt like there was something missing from it but I’m not sure what… I can’t place my finger on it exactly but something kept me from giving it a full 5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

maggies's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

The Whisper Man is a tough read; the topics and plot points are hard to digest, and everyone suffered quite a lot. That's not typically what I enjoy in my books. There was some hope, but these glimmers were far outweighed by the horrors the characters endured. The plot was easy to follow with a good trail of breadcrumbs to the final resolution. The audiobook narration was unconvincing but inoffensive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping and Injury/Injury detail

abbiwesner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

Every chapter had something to offer and something that made you want to read more of the story. I liked how the book used every character to describe what was happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail

ivirtue's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ravenpuff's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

lcm_xo's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

This was enjoyable! When I was reading it I was really intrigued and immersed in the story, but when I put it down and didn’t really think about it or want to pick it up. It is very slow and honestly not a lot happens in the first 90%, but I still mostly enjoyed that. I liked how there was a supernatural aspect which your don’t know if it’s real or not. I always enjoy that. There was honestly to many points of view and I only liked 3 of them. I don’t like following detectives all that much. I’m glad I read this because it was a good slow burn mystery (just not a favorite) and will probably read more from this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail