Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Whisper Man by Alex North

15 reviews

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Alcohol, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Blood and Violence

corporealmystic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Bullying, Confinement, Murder, Stalking, Kidnapping, and Mental illness

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

mysterymom46's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Confinement, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Bullying

ebb_and_flow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Drug use, Cancer, Gore, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

entityj's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Addiction, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, and Torture

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual content and Pedophilia

the_disreputable_dog's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. I actually didn't have time to review it a month ago when I finished it and have still been thinking of it all this time, hence my feeling comfortable to still review it. The book starts out slow, building a world with a single dad, and a sweet little boy moving into a new house while still mourning the loss of their wife/mom respectively. For Jake, the son, he's also having trouble making friends his own age, and the only thing helping him through the days is the little girl in the blue checked dress. For the dad, Tom, the thing making him most uneasy is that he can't see the girl in the blue checked dress, even though Jake swears she's real. They decide that moving house is probably the best way to move forwards, but at the new house all is not well.

In a parallel story, old wizened detective Pete Willis gets called in to assist on a case of a child disappearing. The crime appears to be related to a crime spree that happened many years ago in which he was the lead investigator. The catch? They caught the man responsible all those years ago. Now Pete is fighting against all odds to find the boy, even going back and re-checking his own work from the older case as well.

I really liked this book. The drama of the missing kid kept me in suspense, while the mystery surrounding the little girl in the blue checked dress and Jake kept me guessing what was happening. I liked Tom, Jake, Pete, and the girl in the blue checked dress quite a lot, and I felt like all of them were very well created characters. They weren't all knowing, or all-seeing. They made mistakes and got turned around and especially with the girl, they had very distinct limits to what they could do. I think sometimes in books, authors get all caught up in what they want the characters to do and making sure that the good guys win, that they forget it can add value to have the characters do what they don't want to do, or to have the characters not do something. I think it was very smart to have that included as well, because it made you, as the reader, get tripped up too. I hope to find more like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Gore

eve_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

Overall Thoughts:
⁕ The folkloric rhymes and suburban mythos North creates around the Whisper Man are honestly the creepiest part of the book. Growing up, most of us have called upon monsters in children's rhymes and rundown homes. North taps into this phenomena and makes it feel very, very real. 

⁕ The developments in the mystery are slow coming at times. I was often disappointed by the anti-climactic evolution of the plot-- I wanted an "AHA!" moment that I didn't get.

⁕ This book focuses more on the characters than the crime itself. If you are looking to play detective, there are certainly clues littered throughout the text, but the main focus of the story an exploration of family, grief, and parenthood.

To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Stalking, Death of parent, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Grief, Body horror, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Confinement

anniereads221's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Alcohol, Grief, Medical content, Addiction, Violence, Murder, Stalking, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Body horror, and Child death

Moderate: Pedophilia

ggcd1981's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.75

Rating: 3.75 estrelas 

Spoiler

TRIGER WARNING: Kidnapping, Death of child, Death of parent, Child abuse, Murder, Mentions of Alcoholism, Mentions of Domestic Violence 

The whisper man foi indicado em uma das primeiras listas de recomendação de terror que li quando estava retornando a leitura. Só que não concordo que esta obra é terror. É na verdade um thriller que inicialmente passa uma ambiguidade de se existem elementos paranormais ou é apenas uma história de serial killer (SPOILER: É apenas um serial killer). Não sei se é adequado também chamar o livro de Mistério, pois os mistérios que existem (Quem é o assassino e porque mata) são revelados mais ou menos na metade do livro. A partir da revelação o foco da obra se torna encontrar a criança, Jake, que foi sequestrada. 

É em geral um livro interessante, inclusive houve um momento um pouco assustador devido a narração (de Christopher Eccleston) do “boy under the floor”. A história mantém seu interesse, mas não posso dizer que ela atingiu seu potencial completo. A premissa de The whisper man é bastante interessante, mas a sensação que tive foi que o autor não queria cruzar a linha para que a história fosse mais Dark e honestamente mais realista (Desnecessário dizer que quando as vítimas nesse tipo de enredo são meninas MUITAS dessas linhas são comumente cruzadas). Ou seja, o autor manteve a história PG-13 e não cruzou a linha para o terror. 

Gostei de como as relações de pai e filho, tanto de Tom Kennedy com seu filho Jake, quanto de Tom com seu Pai Pete foram retratadas. Não há muitos pontos ruins na obra. Acho que o mais frustrante para mim foi a sensação de que o autor tentou pegar leve na história quando esta poderia ter sido um terror. Da narração de Christopher Eccleston devo dizer que esta me deixou confusa, pois houveram momentos bons e momentos ruins. Eu ouviria uma narração dele novamente? Sim, mas não de um livro que eu esteja antecipando MUITO. Em resumo, gostei e estou feliz de ter lido, mas não é um destaque do gênero Mystery/Thriller. Dou nota 3.75 estrelas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Bullying, and Toxic friendship