Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

77 reviews

vivisms_82's review against another edition

dark sad tense

3.0

I can handle a far fetched, convoluted story - but only if it's written well and the protagonist we are rooting for is at least somewhat believable. How can you go on a journey with her when you already think her backstory is ridiculous? Wayyyyy too many hardships to be realistic. Maybe if she was 45 and not 25 to have gone through so much I may have bought it better. And I get that in order for the plot to work, Riley needed someone with "no ties' but flippin hell Jules' past reads like Dickensesque tragedy one thing after the other;

we have a dying mother, a father that decides to suicide with her and sets the house on fire for insurance, Jules finds out parents had a lot of debt and she had to pay for two funerals so pretty much her parents f**ked themselves because after all that she wasn't left a penny, a missing sister - which I'm hoping Mr Sager aint setting up for a sequel - in any case I will not be reading it, a cheating, loser ex, and lastly Jules being one of the 10% to be cut at her workplace.... for real?? She is like 25/26?! This is A LOT of backstory to buy, especially someone so young. Yes, I know it can happen but it was for me too much.

Parts of this book were indeed thrilling but others were just eyeroll dull or problematic - I mean the part where

Jules escapes from the hospital and Greta sees her - the same person that has her kidney inside her and has benefited and colluded with this scheme and she just lets her escape because Jules mimes "please"... c'mon. That type of snakey character would have screamed out. Just bogus and frankly lazy storytelling because it then made it easy for Riley to have Jules be able to get away.

I would have liked more exploration of class, wealth and inequality; wealthy people being able to

jump the transplant queue and buy a heart, kidney, liver - whatever they need or to simply have access to proper healthcare. This already happens in the real world and I think it's a missed opportunity to have not teased out a little.

Btw finding out what was really going on that building was actually a relief compared to the weird path it was taking

I was like "nooooooo, not freakn satanic cult rubbish"... so when I read it was an organ stealing scheme I was like "phew" ;)

 the narrator is excellent - cannot fault her. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

madisonjordan5693's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, and Blood

eliza_beth_23's review

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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Gore, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Sexual content

claire_reardon's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

My third book by Riley Sager and my third time debating my own logic against the paranormal and true crime. Super satisfying ending, especially for Rufus. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

arnold_shelby's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious

• 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

4.25

A quick, creepy read. Gives off Satanic Panic vibes, so a little cliche in that way, but a fun read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror and Blood

abarrett7's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

chelbelle122's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

guzmanmg01's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Cursing

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, and Medical trauma

wickedgrumpy's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

1.0

What even was this?  I seriously have no words to describe how much I cannot even...

Why.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I'm so glad I read this when I did. I've been CRAVING a thriller for the longest time and this definitely delivered for me. It gave me all the vibes that reading a thriller would give me. I was engaged. I was curious. I was theorizing in my head. I was even a little anxious at times. I totally understand why someone wouldn't like this one though. I thought I wouldn't like the slow-burn style considering those don't tend to be my favorite form of storytelling when it comes to a thriller, but it worked for me in this case. And I really enjoyed the writing in this one.

I was enjoying my time with this book, but when the twist of the satanic cult was introduced I was "annoyed" so to speak. I thought this was going to be another "House Across The Lake" situation where this author takes a mundane plot and then turns it supernatural with no build-up to suggest that it was paranormal. I'm sooooo happy that didn't end up being the case and that what went on was set in reality. It was giving major "Get Out" vibes.

I did enjoy the whole commentary on classism and the things people will do for money. I enjoyed Jules, although I agree she could be quite dense sometimes

I wanted to shake her a few times in the book. Like girl, collect your check and leave things be. But ofc, it wouldn't be a book if she just sat down and did nothing.

. I enjoyed the story and was pretty satisfied with the ending. However, I was struggling with a rating for this book for a bit. I was in between a 3.75 to a 4.5 and decided to settle on a 4.25/5. It did what it had to do and I overall really enjoyed it and the turn it took.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent