Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - The Sanatorium

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

59 reviews

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Really interesting murder mystery. I didn’t know the bad guy until it was revealed and honestly hadn’t even considered the culprit for that role. I couldn’t put this one down — stayed up til the wee hours reading.

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beansforbrains's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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jjames_mal's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-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? No

3.0

This thriller follows our protagonist Elin Warner, a detective on forced leave from her job as she travels to a hotel (previous sanatorium) to meet her estranged brother and his fiancée. But then they get snowed in, and murders happen.

I just couldn’t get behind this book. Everything the main character does so is obviously a bad idea and then she is shocked when bad things happen. For how dark the motivation was, the villain’s whole way of doing things was nonsensical. Honestly I know this is the start of a detective series, but I kind of wish the aspects of police procedural were not in this book.

If you like your detective books to tackle serious issues but have cheesy detective tropes, you might like this one, but I won’t be continuing with this series.

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stephtoriz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I was so confused by the ending or the epilogue </ spoiler > I thought they saw that Laure was the one who pushed her into the plunge pool which still doesn’t make sense if she was in hiding .. so this man that’s stalking her ? He did it ? Idk

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kk_gotit_goinon's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a true thriller, through and through. I was on the edge of my seat the whole book, and just when I thought I had it figured out it threw me through another loop! Super exciting, not too gory or bloody. It's a crime show crossed with Stella Gets Her Groove back, I loved it.

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magical_mads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

1.5

The characters were very unlikable and frustrating. There were at least four or five plot twists within the last 100 pages. The motivations behind the murders made no sense. And then there was a feminist twist thrown in at the very end so that the author could make some social commentary or some thing, which was handled very poorly (in my opinion). I’m so disappointed because this kind of premise/commentary is 100% sent the thing that I normally go for. But this book is a no for me.

Also, I hated how in the topic of rape was treated in this book. It felt like it was shoved in as a last minute plot twist. It should never be treated like that.

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books4em's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

I look forward to reading the next Detective Elin Warner novel by Sarah Pearse! The Sanatorium was a very good psychological thriller. I enjoyed the quick pacing and appreciated the short chapters (388 pages and 92 chapters) - made it easy to get through. I also enjoyed that we had the classic psychological thriller multi-plot style and liked how we had character and relationship development along one storyline and then we had another storyline following these exceedingly gruesome murders. Pearse also did a nice job of incorporating the setting into the story as if it was a character itself - it definitely added to the eeriness of the murders and story overall. I do have some questions at the end though with some of the connections. And the ending lends the reader to believe Elin isn't going back to the police force, but then Pearse's next book's blurb is about Detective Elin Warner being on a case so I'm not sure what happens there. Also the epilogue...need answers! Overall very good!

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