Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

66 reviews

zoeblair17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Dark n twisty at its finest. Every time I had a new theory, I was almost immediately proven wrong. A little slow to set the scene but about halfway through, it picks up and does not stop! Twist after twist - read the last 150 pages in one sitting and skipped dinner.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

behindherpages's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity

bookishchaos'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Not what I was expecting but that plot twist was WILD

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Suicide

infjkiki's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Minor: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Excrement, and Vomit

ashleygistinger's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

hunkydory's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

theimposter's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Great twists and turns! Always thought I knew what was happening and was continually surprised.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Gaslighting

espressoreader's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

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

1.0

This is what happens when an author has a bunch of ideas on sticky notes and then decides to chose which one to use by playing pin the tail on the donkey.  Unfortunately, the reader is the donkey in this scenario.  The plot of this book was about 3 different mismatched and then mangled story arcs that were never spliced.  

The alcoholism of the main character took too much time.  Does it happen?  Absolutely, but functional alcoholics are functional not constantly at the booze at the cost of other things, and dysfunctional alcoholics don’t make good narrators.  Too much of the main character’s personality was obfuscated by the addiction.  I am aware that it happens in life, but that does not render it a good person to select to guide the whole book.

Fail.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

doreyghc's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicide

hmatt's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

With the (MAJOR) exception of one very-spoilery aspect, I thought this was a fine, if cliché, thriller. Maybe a little on the long side, and certainly not without about 7 plot twists. One non-spoiler comment is that the narrator does a fine job, but also sounds like someone who is 30+ years older than the main character is supposed to be. This bugged me. 

I cannot express just how disappointed I was to have the major plot twist be a ~~~supernatural thing. I kept reading in the hopes that this was another fake-out and it was actually something of-this-world, if horrible. Which would have been a very cool way to deke IMO. Alas, the author stuck with the woo-woo.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail