Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Dark Things I Adore by Katie Lattari

7 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

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

loujanae's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is being sold as a "revenge thriller." It's not. It's a revenge mystery where the reader understands the entire mystery very shortly into the book. There are no big reveals or twists, and absolutely nothing thrilling. 
I thought it might be thrilling because it started strong when he bought the knife at the gas station, but then it's never an issue again. 
The final page of the book attempts a "twist" or "gotcha" moment (which I called toward the beginning of the book) and it kinda soured the entire reading experience for me. 
Do not under any circumstances read this novel if you have any triggers regarding mental illness and suicide. This was an extremely difficult read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abortion and Rape

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

javafenn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

Great suspense novel with a somewhat predictable storyline and twist but ultimately a good read. The ending is satisfying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Gun violence

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