Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Dark Things I Adore by Katie Lattari

9 reviews

neeveon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

At first the technical art talk was hard to wade through but the compelling plot and characters helped keep me interested. I really enjoyed this read even when the plot points became obvious I wanted to see the “how” more than simply guess the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide

Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Medical content

sruhl00's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I guessed the entire plot with the first 1/4 :( 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Suicide

eskane00's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Wow! A slow and confusing start snowballs into a book full of emotion and raw feelings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

kimmykelly's review against another edition

dark 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Gore, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Blood

clairedmuchovsky's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Very good read. Read it in about a day. I loved the complexity and complications of the characters. Some things were predictable (which isn’t necessarily bad) and yet you still get a twist up to the last pages 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Self harm, Murder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Death, and Emotional abuse

saturnsbug's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

megwesley's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

The prose is good. It is a delight to read. The characters are interesting. The only trouble is that I already knew the ending when I was 1/4th of the way through the book. Because of that, the ending didn't resonate as much as it should have. But it is still a really good read and I highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

ronia_rd's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

c8_19's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

I don't often wander into the land of thrillers, and this book reminds me why. I am DISTURBED. For all you thriller lovers, I'm sure this is the exact kind of review you want to hear. I'm also reminded of when I read In Cold Blood (Capote) two years ago and didn't pick up anything remotely terrifying for months and months because I was so spooked. Now here I am. Again. Unsettled in the most effective way.

I deeply admire Katie, as I've had opportunities to work with and learn from her about the craft of writing. This piece is now another chance for me to learn more things because her wordsmithing is so well done. Ambiance is key here, and if you ever thought the remote, northern words of Maine would be the perfect setting for a thriller you were right.

The way Max's perspective was handled was quite impressive to me because, as a reader, I clearly saw him as this scummy guy who did some terrible things to a young woman (well, multiple young women, but those are side details). There's great consistency with him in the fact that he always manages to justify his actions but not in having evil, malicious intentions sort of way. Rather, he's just so self-absorbed that he does not see the accuracy of what his choices resulted in. I think that's of note because his motives make for a more interesting character and keeps character dynamics/dialogue from being cliché.

There's another character who does some horrifying things, too, and I don't feel like there were full answers about why they did what they did. There was a little bit near the end where some motives were given, but I also thought there seemed to be more rage in this character simmering beneath the surface than went explained.

My final thought is about the ending because I'd actually been reading the last section and thinking, "This is a nice way to conclude. The final pieces of drama have played out. Audra is doing her thing. Life is carrying on. I can breathe again." And then, literally, the last two pages were like, "Psych! Here's one more thing." I wouldn't label it a cliffhanger, and it wasn't cliché. It was more about being lulled into smooth sailing only to be handed a pertinent (shocking? I had been wondering about this) character detail, allowing the disturbing vibes to persist.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt