Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

50 reviews

stephtoriz's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

korolevakotykiv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

magical_mads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, and Abortion

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

hannahloveslit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Stalking, Abortion, and Death of parent

saraneyd's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

dorsetreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

gracedunne's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness and Abortion

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

bethnash's review

dark 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

paronomaniac's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

Holy moly, this book was a lunchbox letdown. 

To start, it was unnecessarily long. A good edit could have cut 15-20% of the text and still maintained the story. The entire chapter on the protagonist using the Find My Phone app could have been two paragraphs, tops.

The story was also convoluted, and there were too many sub-plots. And the red herrings weren’t so much red herrings as the protagonist jumping to wrong conclusions, over and over again.

Worst of all, the villain’s motives were clichéd and out-of-the-blue. 

The themes of trauma, guilt and complicated family were good and added depth to the characters. And there were other good themes and ideas in the book, but overall they were too disparate to come together into a cohesive story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Blood, and Abortion