Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

10 reviews

kaneebli's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Suicide, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Animal cruelty

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I LOVE a ghost story. Give me haunted houses or give me death… so I can haunt them myself! 

Home Before Dark tells the story of the Holt family and Baneberry Hall half through Maggie’s perspective in modern day, and half through the chapters of the book her father wrote. I loved that element - that I got to read a horror book (a horror memoir?) inside of a horror book. Each of the three Sager books I’ve read so far have jumped between timelines, but this was by far my favorite execution! The House of Horror chapters were actually my favorite part of the book, and I would’ve gladly read just that as a standalone; but it wouldn’t be a Riley Sager book without twists and turns and big reveals and UFF, these ones are good. No spoilers, but I definitely recommend you give this one a read if you like mysteries, haunted houses, complex family relationships, or like the feeling of being a little freaked out by every creek and groan your house makes. 

This is my third Riley Sager book of the year, and the second one that I’ve read in a single day. He has without a doubt become one of my favorites! Hoping I can read one or two more before the year is out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol

saintmaud'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? Yes

2.5

unbelievable how this would have all been avoided if everyone learnt to mind their own business and before you get started about how tragedies look avoidable from the outside know that the writing isn't good enough to justify it. I read Sager's books (and others similar in genre + format) because I want something fast paced and twisty, writing quality aside, but this just felt too trite and derivative (a pet cemetery on the property?? wow) and I'm just more irritated now.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Suicide, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol

emilyf02's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Violence

julienicole1106'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mblanke's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting

jrharris's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, and Murder

crosberg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

Definitely not for the faint of heart and if you want something more like a haunted house story and less like the tale of the terrible things people can do to each other, this might not be the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Violence

The book does discuss in detail a very lengthly period of gaslighting by parents to their child. It also mentions child abuse, murder, and suicide. There are also rumors about grooming a teenage girl.

seawarrior's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

Home Before Dark is an engaging read that glued me to its pages, but began to lose my suspension of disbelief near the end. The title is narrated by the text of the notorious House of Horrors and the inner thoughts of its now grown feature character Maggie Holt, who lived her life in the shadow of her father's writing. Early on it becomes obvious that we're not reading a story of a haunting, but rather one of a series of lies that spirals into a decades old "whodunnit". Sager presents just the right amount of description for us to richly imagine Baneberry Hall without losing momentum in the plot, or creating something that felt like a drudgery to read. Yet to me, the ending twists were more annoying than satisfying, as the sheer amount of them seemed unnecessary and almost silly. I would still recommend this book to others who enjoy a mystery novel that it almost effortless to read. There was never a period where reading this book felt tedious, and I repeatedly looked forward to spending more time with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

I don't even know what to say y'all
I don't know what I expected but it wasn't this. This book scared me so much. I'm scared of armoires now. I feel like I can't really talk about this book effectively while still keeping it spoiler free, but I think what I will say is that I did not see the ending coming and I can't tell if I was disappointed by it or not. I opted for the 4 star rating bc of my confusion in relation to that, but overall this was a very immersive and well written book that I think you'll love if you're into horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Excrement