Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Locked Door by Freida McFadden

21 reviews

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

alex_bousquet's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.25

Reading this book right after reading the coworker also by freida mcfadden wasn't the right choice. It is essentially the same plot line,

the main character is being blaned for murders of someone else and keeps finding things that would convict her of murders she did not convict. Only to find out someone set her up the whole time and wants revenge

I do enjoy Freida's writing style of going from the now to the present to fully set the scene and know why the main character is the way they are now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gore, and Medical content

pairswellwithbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

laurajenkins's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Really annoying narrator

allielippe's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Car accident, and Murder

sarahl0726'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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Car accident

Minor: Animal cruelty

theinstabookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

THE GOOD: OMG, that twist! I was sure I had the twist figured out and, boy, was I wrong! I did NOT see that coming! 

THE BAD: Some of the language wasn't my favourite and felt outdated. It also took me longer than usual to read it. There was a bit too much suspense for me and not enough thrill. But I did want to keep reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

neverlandpages4's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

• This was my second book by Freida McFadden and just like The Housemaid, it did not disappoint! 

• I was actually planning on reading The Housemaid’s Secret but I saw this recommended in a YouTube video, then decided to start it on my Kindle just to see what it’s about and I literally couldn’t put this down and binged it in two sittings!!

• That’s the thing about this author’s books, they’re pretty short and will have you hooked from the first chapter and you pretty much have no choice but to binge read them because they’re just that good!

• This had such an interesting premise. For the first 20-30% of the book, we’re kind of unsure of Nora’s moral compass. Her dad is a serial killer and even though she’s convinced that she’s nothing like him, we watch her as she grapples with her morality and I thought that she was such an interesting character. I always love reading from morally questionable characters’ POV, I think part of that has to do with The Tell-Tale Heart. It literally made me love villain POVs 🫢

• Something I didn’t like though was the constant red herrings. Anytime I thought a character might be shady, they were immediately cleared. I felt like there was no chance for the reader to try and guess if their theory was right.

• The big twist at the end took me by surprise, but I did partially guess it. The killer was pretty obvious imo, but the way that they’re related to everything was what shocked me.

•  This is a fast-paced, fairly short, twisty thriller that I’d highly recommend to anyone in a reading slump! Or to anyone that loves thrillers. And I’ll definitely be reading more of Freida’s books soon!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

sam019's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Love this author! Quick read but super interesting plot and I couldn't guess the ending no matter how hard I tried!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.5

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Dr. Nora Davis has a secret—her father is serving life in prison as a convicted serial killer. But when Nora’s patients start being killed in a manner that mimics her father’s crimes, her well-kept secret threatens to come to light.

I love a good serial killer novel, so I had high hopes for this one and was immediately engaged with the premise. Overall, The Locked Door was super fast-paced and enjoyable, with lots of mini cliffhangers and a few pretty good twists in the end. I also loved the cat, who honestly earned this book an entire extra half-star in my rating.

I did feel like this book required a decent amount of suspension of disbelief, and left a few too many unanswered questions for my tastes. A few of the details/plot choices also felt unnecessary, and I didn’t love the way the plot resolved. But, all of that said, I was pretty consistently entertained, and I will likely be checking out McFadden’s other titles in the future, so I’d call it a pretty solid read!

Recommended if you like: fast-paced thrillers; serial killer stories; quick reads.

CW: Death/murder; kidnapping/torture; suggestions of animal cruelty; suicide/death of parent; domestic abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Torture, and Kidnapping