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Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '
A Flicker in the Dark: A Novel by Stacy Willingham, Stacy Willingham
4 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
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
jefferz's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
1.0
Not sure if it's because I've watched endless true crime documentaries, procedural dramas like Criminal Minds and Mindhunter, or I just have high standards for the murder mystery genre, but A Flicker in the Dark did not catch or hold my attention. I felt like I was coasting while reading the first 1/3 of the book and the overall reading experience went downhill the farther I progressed through the story.
Most of my negative impression can be chalked up to Chloe Davis's personality and trauma attributed to her upbringing and exposure to the media/local community associated with her Dad's arrest. I liked the concept of her backstory and how it affected her mindset, career choices, and paranoia, however the execution felt clunky and off-putting. I hate to stereotype novels into specific demographics, but the Chloe's monologue skewed so heavily toward a female audience I felt like I was being beaten over the head repeatedly for 100 pages about how dangerous and unfair life can be for an independent woman.
Her character's personality and background as a psychologist with a phd also constantly conflicted with the choices she makes and thoughts she has. The book makes an attempt to highlight anxiety and substance abuse but tell me how many phd holders with backgrounds in science and prescription drugs accidentally send themselves into psychosis by mixing the two? Her character also claims that she is guarded and refuses to let anyone get close yet does the exact opposite when the journalist Aaron shows up as a complete stranger and spends 5 minutes empathizing with her right after she goes through a 180 adamant about ripping him to shreds. She also constantly ping pongs between people she trusts and doesn't affected by a single new thought process with not a shred of real evidence (always circumstantial at best, sometimes not evidence at all). You can chock that up to an effective use of the unreliable narrator tactic or haphazard character motivations, I'm going with the latter. As the plot moved towards the investigation of the present disappearances and the reveal of the killer, I was constantly aghast not due plot twists thrown my way but due to how incredibly idiotic Chloe Davis is and how she somehow manages to make the worst possible choice repeatedly; and I'm supposed to empathize with her paranoia or delusion?
SpoilerHer affair with the reporter Aaron was the icing on the cake and sealed this book's fate for me.
While I greatly disliked reading about Chloe Davis's daily disasters, the rest of the reading experience was bland and slow for me. The synopsis sounded exciting on paper but the execution felt very run of the mill and typical for the genre. I normally am not averse to books with simplistic writing styles, but my detachment to the story directed my attention instead to the prose and writing which I found to be weak. So much of the novel is "I did this, I did that" repeatedly with little variation in sentence structure or setup. There's so much opportunity with 1st person narratives to delve into a characters psyche (particularly with a character exposed to trauma like Chloe) but Willingham doesn't utilize it at all. SpoilerThe ending also has a nice poignant moment and resolution to the arc involving Daniel's sister disappearance, however I cannot overlook the fact that the novel gives absolutely no reasons for why Daniel and Chloe cancel their wedding or any characters' headspaces after trapping the killer. It's feels like Willingham had a finite number of pages left to wrap up the main mystery and forgot to conclude how just about any character other than Sophie feels in its aftermath and she's a minor character.
There's a lot to be said about the investigation elements here and I'll just highlight a few as a sample of their questionable quality. The coroner finds a body and decides to test hair follicles for drug residues as one of the first steps in their autopsy yet doesn't mention or look into the time of death? One of the victims has drugs in their system but upon reveal of the killer, there's no logical time or place where the drugs could've been administered unless they were stabbed by a syringe that would've been noted in the autopsy or they drugged her after she was kidnapped for what reason exactly? Teenage girls go missing and the police investigators don't notice that they're missing jewelry or accessories, what are the odds that every single girl gone missing has zero fashion accessories in high school. The theory of a copycat killer comes up and the first logical thought is that the imitator is seeking revenge on Chloe (not being enamored with the killer, shock value for personal or political gain, or any of the more standard profiling motivations)? The crime aspects of this book hold up even worse under analysis than Chloe's characterization.
Objectively if I were to score this novel based on the concept and plot, this should be in the 3-star range or higher. However the fact that I instantly guessed the killer, their motive and the sequence of disappearances 30 pages into the novel perhaps dulls the supposed shock factor and plot twists other readers appreciated. There are some redeeming factors that make this book quite accessible and readable for people who want to turn off their brain for the experience, I understand why it's popular for casual readers. However at the end of the day I'm rating this based on my experience reading this book and my experience was dreadful. SpoilerBert Rhodes deserves better, how Chloe suspects him for being the murderer after losing his own daughter is one of the most comedically poor attempt at criminal profiling and psychology I've ever heard of.
Most of my negative impression can be chalked up to Chloe Davis's personality and trauma attributed to her upbringing and exposure to the media/local community associated with her Dad's arrest. I liked the concept of her backstory and how it affected her mindset, career choices, and paranoia, however the execution felt clunky and off-putting. I hate to stereotype novels into specific demographics, but the Chloe's monologue skewed so heavily toward a female audience I felt like I was being beaten over the head repeatedly for 100 pages about how dangerous and unfair life can be for an independent woman.
Her character's personality and background as a psychologist with a phd also constantly conflicted with the choices she makes and thoughts she has. The book makes an attempt to highlight anxiety and substance abuse but tell me how many phd holders with backgrounds in science and prescription drugs accidentally send themselves into psychosis by mixing the two? Her character also claims that she is guarded and refuses to let anyone get close yet does the exact opposite when the journalist Aaron shows up as a complete stranger and spends 5 minutes empathizing with her right after she goes through a 180 adamant about ripping him to shreds. She also constantly ping pongs between people she trusts and doesn't affected by a single new thought process with not a shred of real evidence (always circumstantial at best, sometimes not evidence at all). You can chock that up to an effective use of the unreliable narrator tactic or haphazard character motivations, I'm going with the latter. As the plot moved towards the investigation of the present disappearances and the reveal of the killer, I was constantly aghast not due plot twists thrown my way but due to how incredibly idiotic Chloe Davis is and how she somehow manages to make the worst possible choice repeatedly; and I'm supposed to empathize with her paranoia or delusion?
SpoilerHer affair with the reporter Aaron was the icing on the cake and sealed this book's fate for me.
While I greatly disliked reading about Chloe Davis's daily disasters, the rest of the reading experience was bland and slow for me. The synopsis sounded exciting on paper but the execution felt very run of the mill and typical for the genre. I normally am not averse to books with simplistic writing styles, but my detachment to the story directed my attention instead to the prose and writing which I found to be weak. So much of the novel is "I did this, I did that" repeatedly with little variation in sentence structure or setup. There's so much opportunity with 1st person narratives to delve into a characters psyche (particularly with a character exposed to trauma like Chloe) but Willingham doesn't utilize it at all. SpoilerThe ending also has a nice poignant moment and resolution to the arc involving Daniel's sister disappearance, however I cannot overlook the fact that the novel gives absolutely no reasons for why Daniel and Chloe cancel their wedding or any characters' headspaces after trapping the killer. It's feels like Willingham had a finite number of pages left to wrap up the main mystery and forgot to conclude how just about any character other than Sophie feels in its aftermath and she's a minor character.
There's a lot to be said about the investigation elements here and I'll just highlight a few as a sample of their questionable quality. The coroner finds a body and decides to test hair follicles for drug residues as one of the first steps in their autopsy yet doesn't mention or look into the time of death? One of the victims has drugs in their system but upon reveal of the killer, there's no logical time or place where the drugs could've been administered unless they were stabbed by a syringe that would've been noted in the autopsy or they drugged her after she was kidnapped for what reason exactly? Teenage girls go missing and the police investigators don't notice that they're missing jewelry or accessories, what are the odds that every single girl gone missing has zero fashion accessories in high school. The theory of a copycat killer comes up and the first logical thought is that the imitator is seeking revenge on Chloe (not being enamored with the killer, shock value for personal or political gain, or any of the more standard profiling motivations)? The crime aspects of this book hold up even worse under analysis than Chloe's characterization.
Objectively if I were to score this novel based on the concept and plot, this should be in the 3-star range or higher. However the fact that I instantly guessed the killer, their motive and the sequence of disappearances 30 pages into the novel perhaps dulls the supposed shock factor and plot twists other readers appreciated. There are some redeeming factors that make this book quite accessible and readable for people who want to turn off their brain for the experience, I understand why it's popular for casual readers. However at the end of the day I'm rating this based on my experience reading this book and my experience was dreadful. SpoilerBert Rhodes deserves better, how Chloe suspects him for being the murderer after losing his own daughter is one of the most comedically poor attempt at criminal profiling and psychology I've ever heard of.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
myreadingdream13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
2.0
The main girl makes frustrating decisions. The story veered dangerously close to some compelling ideas and thoughts but forgot all about them for the twist-riddled mess of an ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Vomit
yuyuv's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
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