Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

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

37 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

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

omg_pear's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was a really fun popcorn thriller. I read it in two sittings and just couldn’t stop. The twist was one of those things that I thought I knew but I really didn’t and the extra layers were great. I really didn’t like the way the last 20ish pages played out and felt it could have been done differently. How? Unsure. But thats the few points that were knocked off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Child abuse

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really liked this book! It was a great mystery/thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I really thought I had it figured out at about 50% of the way through, and I did have my suspicions about the actual ending as well. But it was very satisfying to piece everything together in the end! The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 stars is because I didn’t like the narrator of the audiobook, but the book itself is a 5!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

baobaebye's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

decafdirtychai's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

 Another painful read about family and the horrors thereof! I think of “The Push” by Ashley Audrain. Incredible job of capturing the inherent exhaustion of being a woman. Almost five stars but not because I had trouble visualizing some scenes and the chapters were super short, like the reading equivalent of ending every sentence with an exclamation point 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

sydthewitch's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I love thrillers and I love trying to guess the twists. I did guess the main twist/reveal on about page 72, but even so, there were even more twists and revelations that I absolutely didn't see coming! As each aha is revealed, the clues and foreshadowing earlier in the book fall into place and make total sense, every detail accounted for. 

The characters aren't nece sarily lovable but are deeply imperfect in a relatable way. The author does a great job of depicting CPTSD and other mental health issues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

ajanel98's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

It took me almost half the book before I really go into it. I found the beginning to be very slow and almost boring. It was an almost DNF but I powered through and finally finished it! The story really picked up about halfway through and I did enjoy the plot twist at the end! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual content and Violence

thismermaidreads's review against another edition

mysterious sad 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

2.0

This book starts with an unnecessarily triggering description of a mentally unwell teenage girl. I was able to mentally push past that just to get 80% of the way through the book where the main character does something I CAN’T stand in books and find incredibly unethical. So I know for those reasons I can't rate it higher than a 3...it's getting a two because quite frankly there were just too many oh my God I can't trust these people in her life and like i get it, but also like couldn't she have at least ONE person in her life who could be trustworthy? Oh she did...but yeah they weren't actually so this poor girl (woman) left the book with literally no ONE. Had that plot twist 80% of the way through NOT happened and she at least got a HEA I THINK I could have gotten up to a 3.5 4 star.

I just can't with people who use their horrific experiences as a reason to cheat on an otherwise loyal partner.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was annoying in that the protagonist was annoying, but it was good in that it had enough red herrings to keep me guessing. I would’ve preferred the ending to be a little happier, but I suppose it’s unrealistic to think it could be. Maybe I can think of it more like a lot yet but maybe later - something that gets worked out off the pages and after the story - like in an unwritten epilogue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol