Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

5 reviews

k8lynn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

jkar7's review against another edition

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Police brutality, Stalking, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Self harm, and Vomit

icieri's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

shingekiyes'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

this is a contemporary murder mystery that places the victim at the center of the story. the premise is cool and the triple timeline/POV was a concept that definitely piqued my interest... but...
 
listen, if you like predictable thrillers with plot points that scream "cheap shock value," this is a fine book. actually, this was a good book! until what was supposed to be the big plot twist. kirkus reviews got it right this time: "Tense, taut, and terrifying—until the reveal. Read the first 43 chapters and be satisfied."

spoilers: the murderer is mentioned once in the beginning of the book, and the reveal leaves you asking, "wait, what the hell? who is this guy?"

instead of a well-done whodunnit, the author closed her eyes, spun around, and pointed at the first character she saw. the suspense immediately deflated, and there was no closure or compelling explanation to why the crime happened whatsoever. it was extremely amateur, and very disappointing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

whatathymeitwas'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Whew! I just read this in two evenings and I'm surprised I managed to put it down in the middle for even the amount of time I did. It kept me up reading until 5am last night.

I'm my opinion, this is very will written. I don't run into that many books that make me feel like I'm a string being slowly wound up at an ever-increasing speed and intensity, but this one did. I literally felt my heart rate go up during certain scenes. For an author to actually physically affect me, I'm impressed.

I won't get into the plot or anything that might be a spoiler, but this story was just aces. I had no idea who the fingers were going to eventually end up pointed at, and most of my guesses ended up being wrong. It took me til the last quarter to even figure out all the other perspectives and how they tied together. Provided, I'm not always exceptionally good at figuring out the mystery, but this one especially had me mind boggled.

This would be a great pick for anyone who enjoys extremely suspenseful suspense novels, and it would probably work exceptionally well as a winter read— in the dark, when it's snowing and chilled outside. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting