Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

51 reviews

serenaann's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

ajanel98's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

It took me almost half the book before I really go into it. I found the beginning to be very slow and almost boring. It was an almost DNF but I powered through and finally finished it! The story really picked up about halfway through and I did enjoy the plot twist at the end! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual content and Violence

mblanke's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Murder

jessreadseverything'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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Stalking

fkshg8465'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was annoying in that the protagonist was annoying, but it was good in that it had enough red herrings to keep me guessing. I would’ve preferred the ending to be a little happier, but I suppose it’s unrealistic to think it could be. Maybe I can think of it more like a lot yet but maybe later - something that gets worked out off the pages and after the story - like in an unwritten epilogue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

aprilblues348's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kaynova's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

It took me a full work day to finish this audiobook, which is a good thing because that means I deeply enjoyed it and found myself immersed into the story. However, the characters made me MAD! Which most times in mystery/suspense books that happens but the reason this book ups it a little is because Chloe is a dumb b*tch. Girl, you are still recovering from years of trauma from your father's arrest and you don't even think to change your name and move further from Louisiana. You move only an hour away and think NO ONE knows who you are. Darling, the case happened in 1999, the beginning times of the internet, and 20 years later, is the height of the internet, yes everyone friggin knows! To honestly believe her fiance did not know was laughable. He definitely knew, but he didn't know how to say it like her other flings and boyfriends. You would think if she's going to keep going through this to just be open and honest to weave people out of her life, but again, no she doesn't. Instead, she gets vulnerable with the wrong people (which isn't always her fault) and is honest at the times she should've been honest before.

Now, I love  a good unreliable narrator trope (though imo, anything written in first person is an unreliable narrator, but we will digress). As readers, we are going through the days with her and learn she has mass paranoia and PTSD that makes it difficult for her to trust people. But how you don't trust people but get engaged to a man a year later? Or

fuck the fake reporter only knowing him for like three weeks

? It didn't make sense to me at times and I tried to reason it with her drug abuse and her past trauma, but I can tell the author was not going that route, so her inability to put distance between people has nothing to do with her trauma, though she says it is. She said something about laying down with people to feel another heartbeat against hers, but she gets too close to the wrong guys (except Daniel, though he had his own issues. Like you knew who her dad was and her situation AND still threw her surprise party and sexually choked her during sex. Like dude did not communicate or read the room). I kept wondering what makes a person qualified to be in her circle, in her heart and I didn't get any answers.

MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD

I really wanted it to be Cooper and Daniel as the masterminds of this, but when it turned midpoint, I was hoping it was all three in some crazy way. I loved the twist but I was still disappointed. I don't know why; I just was. Cooper, like many serial killers, don't need a reason for being a murderer and I'm glad the author stuck with that, though the whole "it's the darkness. the devil himself" blew me because not one second did the author introduce them as god worshipping people.  It was very believable and the entire book you get clues who's the real guy though, again, Chloe Davis is a dumb b*tch. A lot of ways she reminds me of Pip from AGGGTM by never looking at every angle. She jumped right in and thought it was her fiance and some point I agreed until certain things still bothered me. She kept chasing after him and never took her own advice. The advice that the arms that she kept running to should have been the arms she should've ran away from, and those arms were her brother's.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

amieleigh8919's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse and Panic attacks/disorders

xmeganlowe's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Such a good thriller!! The writing was sophisticated and you really got to know the thoughts of Chloe. I really thought I had it all figured out but was shocked by the final revelation of who the killer actually was. That being said, once the true killer was revealed, it did seem very anti-climatic in the way it wrapped up. But I do appreciate that all angles were tackled and resolved in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Abandonment

Minor: Self harm

llamallama527's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was a tad more predictable than I'd prefer, but! It was well written and very interesting. Given this was the author's first published book, I intend to give her next books a read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting