Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn

15 reviews

deviya's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

i—

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Stalking, Sexual content, Self harm, Rape, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Vomit, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Injury/injury detail

leialeilani's review

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Would have been 4 stars if it hadn’t taken 150-200 pages to get interesting. I almost stopped reading because it was so slow to reveal anything beyond the initial setup.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

Minor: Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Stalking, Miscarriage, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, and Vomit

nabila99's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

as someone who adores david fincher's film adaptation of this book, and watched the film first, reading it was actually quite revelatory. because of the nature of film and TV, it's not always possible to show a character's introspection and inner world the way it is in a book - and gone girl the novel felt very introspective compared to gone girl the film.

i especially enjoyed how much more of amy we get in the book, even if

Spoiler

it is just Diary Amy, and i genuinely found her pov very poignant, despite my knowledge of how the story would go

. it was also very enlightening to see nick's 

Spoiler

misogyny, how he battles against it throughout the whole book but is still a shitty man in many ways, how parental attitudes and bigotries are passed down

.

while i did find that the book dragged a bit at times (especially in nick's chapters), and the ending was a bit abrupt and ambiguous, i flew through the story and was always engaged. what a ride!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Dementia, Drug use, Terminal illness, Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Medical content, Abortion, and Kidnapping

mle11's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Stalking, Cancer, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Classism, Infertility, Vomit, and Miscarriage

taytayc23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

This was the first Gillian Flynn I ever read and absolutely loved it. The plot line had me hooked and I didn't want to put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Rape, and Mental illness

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, and Violence

cammiem8's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.75

The “cool girl” excerpt and the about face turn of the reveal at the half way point of this novel are some of the most brilliant bits of writing I’ve ever experienced in the thriller genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Cursing

Moderate: Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Rape, Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Death of parent

Minor: Body shaming and Incest

None of these characters are good people, and as such they do terrible things to one another.

sarah984's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I didn't know how this book would hold up going into it having already seen the movie, but I had fun. Each (awful) character has a unique voice, and going into it already knowing what's going to happen made me appreciate the careful way the first section was crafted. Unfortunately, after the "reveal" the book drags most of the way through the middle section (way too much mundane day-to-day stuff), and parts of the final third were a little too convenient for me, but I thought the ending was great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Dementia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Stalking, Blood, Death, Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Classism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, and Incest

Incest is alluded to several times but does not actually take place in the story.

becca_w_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Fatphobia and Pedophilia

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

theunrealyoung's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Just stellar writing in terms of character voice. Brilliant pacing. Incredibly misogynistic, but super self-aware. The (equally excellent) film is an incredibly close adaptation and if you are wondering whether it's worth reading the book after seeing the film, probably not. But if you prefer a textual medium and have never seen the film, go for the book, because you're in for roughly the same experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Murder, Misogyny, and Infidelity

Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Classism