Reviews tagging 'Murder'

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

349 reviews

filthymedusa'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

3.75

I think the book got more interesting toward the end with the plots twists I’d say

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

cmarvs's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

jennaviolet's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• 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

0.5

Please don’t read this. There’s a lot of telling and no showing, no getting to the point. You can’t have all of the twists happen it makes no sense. It feels like this author read Sharp Objects, Where the Crawdads Sing, and other similar but better books and just took each plot point she liked and mixed them together. There is such a thing as too much detail. And none of these character relationships or explanations for even minor occurrences make sense or seem researched to even be plausible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Violence

debbilynn42's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I really liked this book! It was a great mystery/thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I really thought I had it figured out at about 50% of the way through, and I did have my suspicions about the actual ending as well. But it was very satisfying to piece everything together in the end! The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 stars is because I didn’t like the narrator of the audiobook, but the book itself is a 5!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ellecam's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Suicide attempt

baobaebye's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

bookish_ghost_girl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A well written first novel that kept me wanting to read it. It wasn't till half way through that I started trying to guess where it was going and who was doing what.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Violence and Suicide attempt

cozy_soul_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

📌 Book Elements 📌

🖤 Suspense
🗡 Murder Mystery 
😨 Dark Elements 
🏚 Complex Family
⏳️Dual Timelines
🩸 Thriller 
📚 Psychologist FMC
🌟 Unreliable Narrator 


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📕 Book Qoutes I Loved 📕
"The real monsters move in the light"

"If she was in love with a monster what did that make her?" 

"What if your home isn't safe or secure? What if the same arms you collapse into are the same arms that took lives?" 

"I have a darkness inside of me. That comes out at night." 

"Running from him felt like running through a swamp."

"I'm nothing thinking of what it feels like to lose my life. I'm think of your father. What it feels like to take one."
 "I force myself to keep walking towards the truth."

"When I'm caught up in a lie, I keep it simple."

"The noises of the night are beginning to emerge. Louisiana at night is a noise place, but I prefer it to silence. Because when it is silent you can hear everything, muffled breathes, foot steps crunching through dried leaves, in the distance. A shovel being dragged through the dirt." 

"I never got involved with a guy who seemed intatilled who would get angry if I changed my mind."

"He isn't running. He still has work to do."

"I see the devil inside of him, that burst out of him one day. You're just like him, blaming something else on what you did."

"He was the author of my life. Spinning lies in my mind. A spider pulling people in his crafting tendrils watching them fight for their lives before devouring them whole." 

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📚 Book Review 📚

I listened to this story as an audiobook and I was drawn in by the descriptions of each character, feelings and the building intensity. The Murder Mystery linked to a summer of missing girls, the main character Chloe's childhood and how the crimes that occurred in her past (check out in the blurb) impact her present. Six girls went missing was terrifying in this story, a small town and a crime that impacted everyone in the story. 

This story felt suffocating in the tone of the FMC and I genuinely couldn't stop listening to this story. Each chapter felt like a episode of a intense mini series, the switch between past and present left me wondering if the killer had been caught. This story reminded me a lot of Bright Young Women By Jessica Knoll in tone. 

The twists and turns in this story left me breathless. I figured out who the killer was half way through, but I still enjoyed the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Vomit, and Murder

villenview's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Rape and Classism