Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

81 reviews

purcellapple's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

dreadspawn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, and Alcohol

efortier's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

ekcd_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

2.75

The one line reviews make it seem like it’s going to be this gritty juicy horror book, but aside from very detailed gore and body horror / injury descriptions the plot wasn’t actually scary. I think the author tried to make it a psychological thriller but made the MC so uniquely and extravagantly insane that you could see right through to the end. The world building was meh, the prose wasn’t distracting. It’s like a less vibrant version of a fan fiction mash up of 2001, Firefly and Levithan Wakes. It did them all a disservice. That’s said, not my worst read this year 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

kaneebli's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

a_dorian'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

marbleharbor'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I didn't like the audiobook as much, but still very good. Just the right amount of spooky and I enjoyed the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

I wasn't entirely sure about what conent warnings to put on this. Read with caution.

hellavaral's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

ladylothlorien's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

This book was AMAZING. It was described as "Titanic meets Event Horizon" and I think that is a better description than "Titanic meets The Shining" although there are definitely elements of The Shining present. I appreciated that the narrative device of the split timelines didn't last for the entire book (it's a good device, but it does sort of "spoil" the fate of the character(s) who are telling the story if it lasts for the whole book). I also appreciated that there are some unanswered questions, but all the crucial questions are answered. And some of the unanswered questions are related to character development. The way that the tension was ramped up slowly but surely throughout was so good. It became harder to put down the book the closer I was to the end, in part because I wanted to know what happened but in large part because the tension and terror were so constant that it was like being rapids leading to a waterfall. As for the "why is this happening" solution:

part of me was a little disappointed at first that it wasn't a supernatural/paranormal/alien reason that everyone was driven crazy. But the more that I thought about it, the more I was okay with it. Even if it was a literal device, it's more realistic and something that could (and probably has) happen in real life. Which is so terrifying to think: the human brain being thrown into chaos but trying to make sense of it with hallucinations, paranoia, and aggression.

I will definitely read this one again and the author is now an insta-buy for me (which is great timing since she recently released a new book).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, and Pandemic/Epidemic

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that everyone on board the ship lost their minds and hurt themselves and/or others. And the main character writes in first person about her experiences, both on the ship and as a child during an outbreak of an illness. I didn't find the descriptions of dead bodies and injuries to be excessively graphic, but it's disturbing to think about/picture in your mind so I've called it graphic.

rochelleisreading's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail