Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Inmate by Freida McFadden

46 reviews

melist6's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

filipa_maia's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

This was my first Freida McFadden book. Her books are so hyped now that I wanted to see for myself what was all the fuss about.

I really enjoyed the story. Fast, compelling, mysterious and dark - just my type of book. Although, at some points, I felt like the story was going nowhere, I think that overall, and by the end, everything went that way it was supposed to. And that ending? My God, I was not expecting that! Nice!

I will definitely read her other books now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Abortion

yvo_about_books's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.0

Finished reading: February 22nd 2024

"Sometimes people do exactly what you think they’re going to do, and they still manage to disappoint you."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I'm aware that Freida McFadden is a very popular psychological thriller author, but somehow I had never actually picked up one of her books before. It seemed like a sign that just when I promised to myself to change this in 2024, an ARC of previously published The Inmate popped up on Netgalley. Of course I couldn't resist this opportunity, and especially since I always love a good thriller with a prison angle... And I definitely understand why so many people seem to enjoy her books now!

The Inmate uses a dual timeline structure, where we switch between the present and eleven years earlier when the murders happened. As often with dual timeline structures, I did prefer one over the other, as the flashbacks just had a bit too much teenage drama for me. That said, once Brooke and the rest are at the farmhouse, things get intense enough to keep your attention. The present timeline is mainly your typical psychological thriller with a main character with unreliable narrator vibes... The last especially once she starts questioning her own memories. It was this present timeline that kept me on my toes, as I was fully invested in discovering the whole truth about both past and present events.

This story is definitely more character driven, and the main characters are all flawed. I had mixed feelings about Brooke, who could behave in an incredibly stupid way in parts... But I can't deny that the manipulation, gaslighting and building up of doubt and confusion are really well done. This is one of those stories that makes you think you have everything figured out, only to drop a plot twist bomb on you that makes you question everything... Not every twist is completely credible, but it does make for a very engaging story. And that ending! I definitely didn't see that last chapter coming, and it was a great way to end things on a high note.

I'm keeping this review short to avoid possible spoilers, because The Inmate will have so much more impact if you go in blind. While this story is mainly a character driven psychological thriller, there are also plenty of moments of tension and things can get pretty graphic especially in the flashbacks. I enjoyed the prison scenes, and I loved how this book made me doubt everything I thought was a given fact. Recommended if you enjoy the genre! I will definitely be diving into Freida McFadden's backlist ASAP. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

    Brooke moves back to her hometown with her son after her parents die. She gets a job at the prison where her ex-boyfriend/son's father is incarcerated after she accuses him of a massacre the night of her son's conception. But did he do it? Or was it the boy next door she's now falling in love with?
    This was a good thriller. I was bouncing back and forth between who could have done it. It was one of the guys, but I wasn't 100% sure who it was.
     And the final twist with the son was interesting, though I'd figured out something was up with that little hint someone dropped.
   The characters however weren't very likable for the most part, which made it a bit harder to enjoy.

Narrator Rating: 3.25 stars
   The narrator was decent but pronounced some words oddly. Her voice was harder to tune out which was good. She just didn't make the book come alive as much as I would have liked.

Elemental Levels:  Fluff-NA   Heartfelt-4/5   Helpful-NA     Horror-1/5    Inspiration-NA  Love aka Romance-2/5   Mystery-4/5    Predictability-2/5   Spice-0.5/5    Suspense-3/5   Tear- 2/5  Thrill-4.5/5 Humor-0.5/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

heather_harrison's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Addictive and twisty. Some events were a bit predictable but there were still enough that threw me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Stalking, and Death of parent

rsagarin's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Abortion

greatestheights's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

This was so absurd on so many levels, but it's Freida McFadden, so what else should I even expect? I didn't enjoy this as much as either Housemaid book, but it did keep me guessing and spinning wild theories to my very patient friend who'd already read the book, so I'm giving it an extra half-star for that alone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Medical content and Death of parent

mlf3711's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

The cheesy rom com of thriller books

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Car accident, and Death of parent

nyquillll's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This was my second Freida book that I read and because I read Never Lie first, I had super high expectations. While I was pretty captivated the whole story and was invested in finding out what happened, it very much felt like a love-triangle where you don’t know who she’ll pick until the very last page - and that’s not really my style.

I was trying to make guesses and predictions on who did it, and it was basically impossible to make an informed guess (in my opinion) because both the MMCs were viable options. 

I also thought the twist(s), while intriguing and shocking, kind of came out of nowhere, at least the first one, in that I don’t think if I reread the book I’d be seeing things from a different lens. It didn’t feel like something I would’ve guessed just by reading versus making abstract, wild guesses. 

That said, I was invested in figuring out who did it and was curious how the whole teenage pregnancy, mom moved away, who’s the dad issue would resolve itself. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Stalking, and Pregnancy

zarakoconnor's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Main character was insufferable. Was so easily manipulated and with zero internal conflict.

The police were ridiculous to believe her testimonies after the first backtrack and false imprisonment. Could not stand her “being manipulated” by Shane without any indication that she was struggling with her past trauma

. Was okay for someone just getting into thrillers like me but a seasoned reader wouldn’t enjoy it. Twists made no sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Murder

Minor: Car accident and Death of parent