Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Overnight Guest [Large Print] by Heather Gudenkauf

8 reviews

katyannreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Confinement, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Gun violence, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse

ladyinverse's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.5

wowee wow wow wow. I expected some of the twists in this but the biggest one of the book I did not expect at all. a very well done suspense thriller with believable characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Gun violence, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Child abuse

nporter5's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I’m in awe of this book. ACAB, always, but 5/5 read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Murder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Rape

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.5

This story is split into three timelines: The summer of 2000 when a violent crime was committed at the farmhouse, an unknown time in which a mother and young girl are held captive, and present day in which our protagonist, Wylie, a true crime writer who is staying at the farmhouse to finish writing her book is being snowed in and finds a little boy freezing to death outside.

At times, this story feels like three books in one as each storyline slowly unfolds and we try to make predictions and decipher how they're connected. The characters are interesting and it's fun trying to predict their motivations.

The setting adds a lot of atmosphere to the story, especially in the present day/winter scenes. The cold, dark, white out conditions add so much claustrophobia. There were a few scenes in which I was genuinely terrified for our main characters.

My favorite thing about this book was seeing how the different characters reacted to the situations they found themselves in. It felt believable.
One of my least favourite things was the end reveal - the reveal itself was fine, but I think it would have been more impactful if the motivations of the antagonist were a little more defined.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slow burn crime/thrillers and dark "whodunnits". 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Car accident, Sexism, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Pregnancy, Rape, Stalking, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Abortion, Child abuse, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury

annelihghh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Death of parent, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Confinement, Child death, Abandonment, Vomit, Miscarriage, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Death, Misogyny, and Car accident

Moderate: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Cursing, Alcohol, Gore, and Sexual assault

zoiejanelle's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.5

this is a contemporary murder mystery that places the victim at the center of the story. the premise is cool and the triple timeline/POV was a concept that definitely piqued my interest... but...
 
listen, if you like predictable thrillers with plot points that scream "cheap shock value," this is a fine book. actually, this was a good book! until what was supposed to be the big plot twist. kirkus reviews got it right this time: "Tense, taut, and terrifying—until the reveal. Read the first 43 chapters and be satisfied."

spoilers: the murderer is mentioned once in the beginning of the book, and the reveal leaves you asking, "wait, what the hell? who is this guy?"

instead of a well-done whodunnit, the author closed her eyes, spun around, and pointed at the first character she saw. the suspense immediately deflated, and there was no closure or compelling explanation to why the crime happened whatsoever. it was extremely amateur, and very disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Car accident, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault

alexreads22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Violence

whatathymeitwas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Whew! I just read this in two evenings and I'm surprised I managed to put it down in the middle for even the amount of time I did. It kept me up reading until 5am last night.

I'm my opinion, this is very will written. I don't run into that many books that make me feel like I'm a string being slowly wound up at an ever-increasing speed and intensity, but this one did. I literally felt my heart rate go up during certain scenes. For an author to actually physically affect me, I'm impressed.

I won't get into the plot or anything that might be a spoiler, but this story was just aces. I had no idea who the fingers were going to eventually end up pointed at, and most of my guesses ended up being wrong. It took me til the last quarter to even figure out all the other perspectives and how they tied together. Provided, I'm not always exceptionally good at figuring out the mystery, but this one especially had me mind boggled.

This would be a great pick for anyone who enjoys extremely suspenseful suspense novels, and it would probably work exceptionally well as a winter read— in the dark, when it's snowing and chilled outside. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Cancer