Reviews tagging 'Death'

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

60 reviews

hnnhhrsvsk's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The House in the Pines is a masterpiece in the thriller-mystery genre. The author creates such an eerie atmosphere that draws you in deeply, quickens your pulse, and makes you want to read just one more chapter. The main character tries desperately to unravel the mystery of the death of her best friend seven years prior, but is shrouded by self-doubt, pill her withdrawal and alcohol, and disbelief from every person she reaches out to for help, to the point where you pain for her, but also question her reliability. The narrative switches back and forth between past and present as the main character slowly starts to remember what she was forced to forget. Certified page turner. 

Only theee small critiques I have:

• The title is The House in the Pines, but the author almost exclusively refers to said location as the cabin in the woods. I wished she used the title a bit more!
• I would have loved to learn more about what happened to Ruby!
• Some mention of whether a chapter was set in the past or present would have been helpful, especially for the chapters where she is revisiting a location. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death

javafenn's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I’m not entirely sure what to think of this book. The premise was good and ultimately the plot twist was good but there wasn’t much of a resolution and it just kind of… ended. I gave it 3.5 stars because it did keep me engaged but the ending was so abrupt and uneventful that I had to rewind it several times because I thought o was missing something. There was a lot I wish there was more of, I guess.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Alcohol

snoopyfanclub's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

2.5

It was so enthralling but the end just fell flat. Like okay it was a sweet ending I guess but not satisfying at all.

I wanted Frank to be stabbed in the gut!!! She brought a knife TWICE in scenes with him and never used it. Like so unsatisfying and she kind of forgot Aubrey existed towards the end like no justice for her I guess.  I thought the big reveal would be that was hypnotizing people and poisoning them with the stew she described like 50 times. Also not everyone’s able to be hypnotized yet Aubrey is immediately fully under his command when she was not as dreamy and impressionable as Maya!! Also it’s not a house it’s a cabin so the title isn’t even correct.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

lnezzy16's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Genocide, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

baconbit95's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gaslighting

ktwinkiebell's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

1.0

Did not enjoy the writing style. The flashbacks felt clunky and were not noted. The "plot twist" was a 0/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

inirac's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

 Wtf is this ending?

This one suffered from Chekov's Magical Realism. If Magical Realism is mentioned in Act 1 then it should at minimum be threat to happen for the rest of the book. It actually doesn't matter if it the world magic or not, but the main character should be questioning it more. This story had the potential to get much weirder and this leaves me disappointed. This is 100% going to be made into a mediocre tv show or movie and I will probably still watch it. 

At the least it's impressive it was a thriller without being extremely violent, gory, or focus on sexual assualt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Kidnapping

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

blossom16's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Enjoyed the book but the ending wasn't that great to me. I wish there were more hints at the beginning of the book about what the twist was, because it seemed a bit random.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, and Drug abuse

ecombs's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

2.5

The story started off a little slow, but picked up towards the middle so I had hope for it. The ending was extremely lacking. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, and Gaslighting

typedtruths's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.25

major flop. one of the most underwhelming mysteries i have ever read. not a shred of atmosphere or entertainment. i was most invested in maya reconnecting with her heritage and dealing with her trauma. and the twist? laughable

▷ Representation: Maya (mc) is Guatemalan-American and has insomnia and substance addictions.

Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Terminal illness

➸ Trigger warnings for psychological domestic and child abuse mentioned, alcoholism and substance addiction discussed, insomnia and nightmares, alcohol consumption and abuse, graphic drug use and abuse (recreational and medicinal), a parent with a terminal illness mentioned, emesis, death of a father from gun violence recounted, death of an aunt from an overdose mentioned, murder of a best friend recounted, and loss of autonomy (abuse of hypnotherapy).