Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

21 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.25

I don’t think thrillers are really for me. Or multiverse/alternate universe stories. On top of that, the characters in this book were not compelling, and their bonds to each other seemed tenuous at best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Gore, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Child death, and Drug use

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Forced institutionalization

eatingbrains's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.75

The good:  I enjoyed the UberChat.  I felt that right when that was introduced a different ending could have spawned that turned into a lighthearted rom-com and I like to imagine that.

The bad:  I knew pretty early on that this was not going to be a favorite.  I don't read a lot of thrillers in general but I enjoy sci-fi so I figured I would give it a shot.  I couldn't stand the main character.  And thus, the book was doomed in my eyes.  The pacing was jumpy, and the plot was predictable (as in, I guessed what really happened in the first chapter and the main character didn't figure it out until the ~50% mark).  There was some promise for some thoughtful introspection but the approach was heavy-handed at best.  Some of the descriptions were vivid and others were flat out whacky.

I don't know if I will try another book by the author, but I don't think I was the intended audience for this work so who knows what the future holds.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Self harm, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Infidelity, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

rosegoldteacher's review

The beginning was a little violent for my taste, but not too egregious.

Spoiler

I was okay with the general premise of an alternate reality shift. Overall, I just don't want to read a story about how your life can be better if you have kids.

That's super depressing to me, especially right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Abortion, Kidnapping, and Child death

sweetsimplenothing's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Minor: Blood, Child death, Stalking, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, and Sexual content

beekins's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death

ottercorg's review

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Looking for an introduction to the sci-fi genre, an Internet list pointed me to this one. 

I enjoyed the main characters and plot, felt that Crouch told the story well. The reason I've avoided sci-fi for so long is that my brain is not good at comprehending the science part. But this book made it palatable and mostly easy to understand - which made me enjoy it even more! Only a few times did risk going over my head. 

Overall, an interesting tale that kept me invested, and not just because I had nothing better to do. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Kidnapping, Blood, Gun violence, Death of parent, Gore, and Stalking

efratmaor's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Grief

Minor: Child death, Stalking, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Torture, Murder, and Medical content

aseel_reads's review

adventurous reflective 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? It's complicated

2.75

I like the premise of the book and how it wrapped up but it was so boring to read that I skimmed so much of it. I think it would be better as a movie 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Murder, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, and Violence

raneyak's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-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

3.0

Overall I found the story compelling and enjoyable. However, there were some moments that missed the mark throughout the book. My overall critique of the book is that much of it seemed to be trying too hard to be a good book. Certain dialogue and character choices used to convey a philosophical message or advance the plot seemed unnatural in context. In addition, the ending wrapped up a little bit too perfectly and I feel like I missed out on the emotional complexity I had anticipated going into the final scenes. 

It’s a relatively short book and contains a lot of interesting science and philosophy, and while it isn’t perfect I still enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Pregnancy, Child death, and Sexual content

erica_reads_things's review

adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Such a good read! Took me a second to get into it but once I got passed the first fourth of the book I was HOOKED. Not only was it well written as a unique story, but it got me thinking about choices, life, what matters, what we live for. I liked it a lot. Also lots of spins that I did not see coming in the last third of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gun violence, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Child death

Minor: Stalking, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts