Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

18 reviews

horizonous's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, and Pregnancy

charmainelim's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

A solid mystery in my book. There was one minor plot point I wish got a couple more pages, but I understand why it was left as it is. Would have been cool to see if there was a connection in the end though.

While I was able to guess the twist, it was really satisfying and showed how well the author laid out the clues. There was something so nice about being able to guess a clever twist and finding out that I was right.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Rape

fi_reads_books's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Alcohol

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. 

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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. 

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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

_savannahreads_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

brookey8888's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this. I liked that it was duel timelines because I find it easy to get engaged because you want to know what going on in the time lines. I did think this was going to be like an isolated thriller and it was to an extent, but not as much as I hoped. I also liked the true crime aspect to this because I honestly had no clue what this was about so that was a fun surprise. That being said I did guess everything because I thought it was obvious, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jmbibliophile's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It isn’t the dark you should be afraid of… It’s the monsters who step out into the light that you need to fear.”

True crime writer, Wylie Lark, has holed up in a small-town farmhouse determined to finish her latest book. Tonight, she’s snowed in due to a brutal blizzard. The solitude would make for a perfect setting - if the house wasn’t also the scene of Burden’s most gruesome crime. As the night goes on, Wylie’s dog discovers a small child nearly frozen in the snow. Wylie rescues the child to find that they are malnourished with remnants of duct tape on their mouth. She tries to get answers but is met with intense fear and silence. It doesn’t take Wylie long to realize she’s taken in a runaway and there’s someone out there that will do anything to get them back.
Told in multiple perspectives and timelines, The Overnight Guest is an intensely captivating thriller that grips you from the start and doesn’t let go. While reading this book, I found myself becoming an armchair detective, trying to connect the dots between the characters and events from the past. I was able to predict several of the twists in this book, but still found myself immersed in the story despite that. Gudenkauf’s writing is atmospheric and detailed with an ending that leaves you completely satisfied. 

Overall, I absolutely recommend this book for my fellow thriller fans and armchair detectives. Even if you’re a seasoned armchair detective who can solve the craziest of mysteries, I absolutely believe you’ll enjoy this wild ride.

Content Warnings: graphic descriptions of violence and gore, sexual assault, kidnapping, captivity, gaslighting, police brutality, child abuse  

(Note: I was provided an advanced copy of The Overnight Guest by the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, and Vomit