Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

137 reviews

erinkins's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Medical trauma and Rape

heidibrunney's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I was thoroughly entertained by this book. It was everything I love about horror movie tropes in a murder-thriller book. The chapters are short, and the plot twists are interesting, which kept me turning the pages. I am also thrilled about the ending, as it's exactly what I was hoping to see.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

vilma_ellen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Infertility, and Death of parent

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

Really interesting murder mystery. I didn’t know the bad guy until it was revealed and honestly hadn’t even considered the culprit for that role. I couldn’t put this one down — stayed up til the wee hours reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Infertility, Medical content, Torture, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

beansforbrains's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood

Moderate: Rape and Injury/Injury detail

ambersbakesandbooks'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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Rape

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Confinement

lilyharper's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Rape

eddiemylove's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed this one! I just personally found Elin's jumping between basically opposite conclusions every other chapter a little exhausting and for me it made it hard to like her but! I liked the ending, though it did feel a little rushed 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Rape

jjames_mal's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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? No

3.0

This thriller follows our protagonist Elin Warner, a detective on forced leave from her job as she travels to a hotel (previous sanatorium) to meet her estranged brother and his fiancée. But then they get snowed in, and murders happen.

I just couldn’t get behind this book. Everything the main character does so is obviously a bad idea and then she is shocked when bad things happen. For how dark the motivation was, the villain’s whole way of doing things was nonsensical. Honestly I know this is the start of a detective series, but I kind of wish the aspects of police procedural were not in this book. 

If you like your detective books to tackle serious issues but have cheesy detective tropes, you might like this one, but I won’t be continuing with this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gore

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Infertility, Abortion, and Infidelity

iamkatebwhite's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Torture, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault