Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Last to Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling

12 reviews

littleyarngoblin's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This book was an interesting one for me. I really liked Starling's other book, The Death of Jane Lawrence, but this one had a completely different atmosphere. At times, I got quite bored and frustrated with the corporate science speak, but that is a part of the main character. The book, while atmospheric, just didn't grab me the same way as TDJL did. While the idea of the doppelganger was cool, and I enjoyed the not-quite-wrapped-up threads at the end, I'm afraid it doesn't make my top 10 for this year. I'd recommend it if you like books about characters who have questionable senses of reality.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

Content warning for agoraphobia, if that's triggering to anyone.

kylosten's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

smolhandsdan's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

ivywwx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

sylvestra's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Confinement, Death, and Blood

theomancy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A lot more of a psychological horror mystery than Starling's other books, in comparison to the action packed Jane Lawrence and the Luminous Dead. I really enjoyed this, and it may be the most well constructed of her books that I've read, but I'm not sure it tops the list as my favorite 🤔 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Forced institutionalization

antimony's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

this started off as a 3 stars and i was really worried it was going to take me forever to read because i was SO confused....but once prime showed up and tamsin really started to lose it it got quite good and i couldn't put it down!! (<- was nearly late to class because i was late closing at work because i was reading and had to finish my chapter.) i still don't understand what she was actually researching pre-subsidience and pre-door though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

HUGE warning for unreality -- the main character is constantly questioning what she knows is real, she's forgetting bits of her life, etc

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This took everything I liked about The Luminous Dead and dialled it up to eleven. Claustrophobic, tense, ambiguous, and the characters are great. It dragged a little bit about halfway through, but the ending was worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Medical content, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Gore, Blood, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

literarybitch's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-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 is for:
• Fans of The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
• Readers who only like the video portions of House of Leaves
• ???
• People who are gay like Gideon The Ninth is gay 

7.9/10

#WhatsKenyaReading 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Blood, Medical content, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Eating disorder and Gore

linguistique's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 In Last to Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling, the city of San Siroco is sinking. The basement of Dr. Tamsin Rivers, head researcher investigating the subsidence problem, is sinking even faster. One evening, a door appears on the basement wall that wasn’t there before, and out of it walks an exact copy of Tamsin. Who is she? Where did she come from? How did she get here? And how can Tamsin stop the subsidence from destroying the city? 

 

What I love about Starling’s style of horror is how psychological and character driven it is, and Last to Leave the Room is no different. Dr. Tamsin Rivers is, I believe intentionally, unlikeable as a character, narcissistic and self-serving and cruel. But Tamsin is, at her core, a scientist, and her obsession with the subsidence felt infectious. I appreciated the care Starling took to develop Tamsin’s character and show the research process, with Tamsin hyper-focusing on meticulously collecting data and measuring the progress of the sinking. I loved the way that Starling seeded doubt about whether Tamsin was a reliable narrator, allowing the reader to wonder what was real and what was an invention of Tamsin’s mind. 

 

While I eventually grew to sympathize with Tamsin, I loved Lachlan’s character even more. She is tough and intimidating, but her job as company muscle was portrayed in what felt like a realistic way, with excellent disability representation. 

 

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and at about the halfway mark it gripped me so tightly that I could not put it down until I finished it. I rated this book four stars because I was left wanting a little more from the ending. The resolution seemed rushed, and I am left with so many unanswered questions. However, I grew to love the characters, and it was great to be back in another unsettling world of Starling’s creation. 

 

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me a copy of this eARC!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content