Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Passengers by John Marrs

19 reviews

andreabey's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, and Pregnancy

marissa_nicole's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow. If you are looking for a book that offers twists and turns then this is the book for you. This near future thriller offers you twist after twist, keeping you on your toes and always guessing. I also found myself disgusted by some of the decision made but then I can see they are sadly reflective of what probably would happen in this day and age.

I really enjoyed the exploration of the impact of making decisions based on the information you have to hand which is perhaps not reflective of the full picture.

This was the first John Marrs book I have read and I flew through it as I just had to know what would happen next. I am now on the look out for more of his books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The beginning chapters were slow but the pacing was good after that.  I enjoyed the suspense of the novel and liked this take on AI.  An interesting multilayered plot with well developed characters was enhanced by a full cast audiobook.  I enjoyed it but it was dark and some of the back stories were tough.  I'd reccommend checking the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

sarah_amy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A re-read after finishing The One for the first time recently. Equally as fantastic the second time around. Marrs' speculative fiction books give off very Black Mirror vibes, where it feels like a very possible near-future if technology advances just the slightest. I love how this book dared to deliver on some of the threats, which kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, not actually knowing whether good would prevail as expected. A great cast of characters, all very diverse, and the story twisted in ways you didn't expect. After reading The Passengers and The One, it's certainly given me a lot to think about regarding just how much of my information is available online & how much someone could find out about me if they really dug deep - not just personal details such as location and financial, but even niche things...such as my taste in books! One things for certain...I don't think I'll ever trust self-driving cars after reading this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage, Terminal illness, and Vomit

julienicole1106's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emcat01's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was terrifying and exhilirating! It gave me whiplash with how many plot twists it had (all great by the way). It will keep you guessing. It hits a little too close to home since we have fully electric vehicles. It will make you uncomfortable and question your own choices. It will push you to finish it. The audio book has a full audio cast and makes the broadcast sections great! I HIGHLY recommend consuming this novel via audiobook on Audible! #notsponsored 
There is a lot of briefly mentioned sensitive topics so please look up content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Car accident

vj_thompson's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

What a wild ride. This book was like a Black Mirror episode.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Vomit, Trafficking, War, and Deportation

chireadsandchill's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

madanxiety's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

I've been reading so many romance novels over the last few years that I forgot what it was like to read a truly thrilling book. The pacing of this book is masterful. It starts off quite slow, then it speeds up toward the end, but not so fast that we're left with a rushed and incomplete ending, which I guess I've come to expect, unfortunately. When a big climactic moment happened, I was surprised to see there were still about two hours left in the audiobook! I really appreciated that closure.

Aside from pace, I am also always a huge fan of ensembles, which is part of what initially sustained my attention. I was like damn, how many hostages are there? Lol. 

More to the content of the novel, I liked how each character was flawed in a very human way, and yet the protagonist (who, despite all the other characters, I'd say is Libby) was still always someone you could route for. This was a skillful balance to maintain. 

I also have a soft spot for anti-establishment narratives lol. As one of the characters states at some point, the real villains turn out to be people, not AI. 

Going back to Alex, while I'm under the spoilers cut, I do feel somewhat vindicated for never trusting "Jude" after hearing from his perspective early in the book. I'm impressed with that subtle characterization. There was something stalkerish and frenzied about his way of speaking. I mean, the biggest red flag was def him getting a semi in the middle of a hostage situation lol. I took that as revealing something stunted or disturbed about him, anyway. Still, as the book went on, I started to think I'd been reading too much into it, given that Libby stayed willing to save Jude over the others. Such a hopeless romantic move for an otherwise fairly logical character.

My only critique of the book is how characters of color are treated. I will say more under the cut, but ofc it will include major spoilers. 

There was one minor detail toward the end that rubbed me the wrong way. When Alex revealed that his company's work had been given to "the Indians," I thought that was a bit... stereotypical? Why could this Indian company not have been given a name? Why must the entire (enormous) population of India be to blame and not just the company that chose to use stolen work and ultimately spark a global privacy & transportation crisis? Again, I recognize that this was an incredible small detail, coming from the antagonist no less, but at the same time, we are meant to sympathize with Alex somewhat, right? Like, we're meant to agree that that initial situation that led to the rise of level 5 vehicles was fucked and unethical. I just take these tiny details as significant considering popular sentiments regarding immigrants in the UK, to say nothing of their unique historical relationship with India. 

I might've written this off as simply revealing Alex's own biases and flaws, but POC in this book are pretty much all murdered or painted as villains. It seems like the narrative of the book leans sympathetic toward POC, with only unlikeable characters being outright racist, the POC still die unjust deaths. It's like, I get that the novel is meant to be representative of the ugly parts of reality, including the disproportionate victimization of POC, but idk if that's enough justification for using characters of color as mere plot devices or backstory, not when that's the plight of ALL of them.

Anyway, I think the book is an interesting exploration of how AI could be weaponized by both powerful people and vigilantes. It's a cautionary tale about being too trusting of technology with regard to the collection and sharing of private data. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer and Infertility