Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

13 reviews

singalana's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Kirjan kuvaus oli sen verran hämmentävä, että en oikein tiennyt minkä tyyppistä kirjaa olin alkamassa lukea: onko tämä jännityskertomus, salapoliisikertomus, romanssi vai kummitusjuttu? No, oikeastaan tämä on vähän niitä kaikkia.

Kirja sijoittuu 1940-luvun sodanjälkeiseen Englantiin. Kirjan päähenkilö, tohtori Faraday kutsutaan hoitamaan sairastunutta palvelustyttöä rappioituneeseen kartanoon. Faraday tututstuu perheeseen ja saa pian huomata, että kartanossa tapahtuu kummallisia asioita.

Tunnelmaa rakennetaan vähitelle ja se kantaa läpi kirjan. Kirjailija on onnistunut toteuttamaan mysteerin niin, että lukijan epäilykset säilyvät loppuun asti. Teosta on vaikea kuvata ilman että paljastaa tarinasta liikaa, mielestäni se kannattaa ehdottomasti kokea itse avoimin mielin. 

Tässä tarinassa on elementtejä, joista monet lukijat eivät välttämättä pidä, joten lista niistä spoilerilinkin takana. Mielestäni kaikki nämä elementit olivat kuitenkin paikallaan tässä kirjassa ja sopivat hyvin yleiseen tunnelmaan ja siihen, mitä kirjailija todennäköisesti tavoitteli.

• Kirja on yleissävyltään ahdistava, melkein masentava.
   
• Kirjailija rakentaa tunnelmaa hitaasti. Itse nautin tästä, mutta osa lukijoista saattaa olla sitä mieltä, että kirja on turhan pitkä ja tekstiä olisi pitänyt trimmata.
• Päähenkilö tohtori Faraday ei välttämättä ole samaistuttava hahmo. Hän tuntuu "gaslightaavan" hahmoja. Lisäksi hän painostaa perheenjäseniä tekemään asioita mitä he eivät halua.
• Kirjan loppu jätetään eräällä tavalla avonaiseksi. Jos tällaisista lopusta ei tykkää, saattaa loppuratkaisuun pettyä.

Kansi: Kirjan kansi voisi olla parempi jos ylimääräiset elementit otettaisiin pois ja jätettäisiin vain kartano ja värimaailma.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

nikii_js's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense slow-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

2.5

Personally, not it for me - I had to read it as part of an assignment. The writing style is good, but i think the writer kind of missed with this one. I kind of thought the overall storyline was slow and slightly convoluted to me & the narrative style just felt quite dull, and stopped me from being able to enjoy the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child death and War

phantompansy's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Self harm and Vomit

jillaay_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

cathyrodgers's review

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

An atmosphere of dread carries throughout the book. Although the plot seemed to drag on too long, especially in the middle, I still was glued to this audiobook and listened to it for hours and hours at a time.  On the surface, this is the story of a poltergeist in a haunted house.  By the end you realize there's a lot more going on.

On a deeper level, the novel is about the poisonous jealousies of a petty little boy - the poltergeist is an evil manifestation of the anger and resentment Dr. Faraday feels every time he's rejected or shamed by someone at the house.  Faraday's over the top obsession with The Hundreds house began as a child, in the opening of the novel, when he's so driven to possess the house, he vandalized it by breaking an acorn away from the plaster inside the house.  The first sign that the house has been infected by Faraday's obsessive/evil/little stranger occurs when the oldest daughter gets sick and dies after witnessing Faraday get slapped by his mother for having vandalized the house.  The ending, with Faraday saying that even though he looks for other people/the poltergeist/the little stranger in the old abandoned house, all he sees is the reflection of his own face in the empty windows - was excellent.  The ending also confirms that Faraday has been an unreliable narrator all along.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Suicide

Minor: Child death

exhumedprince's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Medical content, and Classism

Minor: Child death and Self harm

katsmedialibrary's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

saltedsnail's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death

sofipitch's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

Pretty boring and predictable for a haunted house story. I didn't much care for any of the characters, no strong feelings one way or another, the horror elements weren't strong

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death

digitalroses's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Cursing, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, and War