Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

A Flicker in the Dark: A Novel by Stacy Willingham, Stacy Willingham

124 reviews

aparker89's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

uchihas's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

i usually hate mysteries but this one was pretty good! i thought i had it figured out but it surprised me in a good way. the author uses “drink in” too often lol but otherwise i like the way she writes! a solid experience tbh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Stalking

colorcrystals's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

bookscatcoffee's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

2.5

This was a struggle for me.  I did not care for how the author discussed and described other women.  I figured out the twist pretty early, but I didn’t really care by the time it arrived.  The MC was a mess that never really resolved.  Just not my favorite.  2.5 stars

Mystery

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

emquartz15's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is a solid thriller! Considering the common “girls go missing” plot line, I think Willingham makes the most of it, weaving intense backstories (especially for the main character) that make you feel like twists could come from any direction.

However, I really wanted to see Chloe confront her dad at some point, so that was kind of a let down after being brought along the whole journey. And was it not going to be addressed that Chloe slept with “Aaron”?? Idk I feel like her explanations were too easy. Same with “the darkness”… I didn’t love reading about so much violence against girls/women without feeling like there was something else to it. But that’s partially the point unfortunately.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder

enc3336'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

4.0

This book was alright, it did make me frustrated with the cliché female who can’t be taken seriously because they are self medicating and making themselves an unreliable source. It does keep you guessing at who committed the crimes and does lead you down one path and the twists it at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder

tayyters's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol

cmarvs's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

jennaviolet's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

0.5

Please don’t read this. There’s a lot of telling and no showing, no getting to the point. You can’t have all of the twists happen it makes no sense. It feels like this author read Sharp Objects, Where the Crawdads Sing, and other similar but better books and just took each plot point she liked and mixed them together. There is such a thing as too much detail. And none of these character relationships or explanations for even minor occurrences make sense or seem researched to even be plausible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Violence

debbilynn42's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts