Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Whisper Man by Alex North

4 reviews

augustinedreams's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Grief, Medical content, Alcoholism, Child death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Violence, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Minor: Pregnancy and Panic attacks/disorders

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

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

ceecee9093's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Cancer, and Cursing