Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

12 reviews

spaghettii's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The ending was an interesting choice

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

beereadingbooks's review

dark emotional mysterious tense

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

5.0

Beautiful, tense deep dive into some really nuanced and interesting characters. Love the setting, love the leads. I want to kiss them on the forehead. I want to study them like lab rats. 

I support women’s wrongs

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

opinkb's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

eldritch_archivist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

Gave me real life anxiety reading this, absolutely shitting myself during the back half. I'm now much more afraid to read more books by this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Classism

hybridpubscout's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide and Vomit

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Suicide and Excrement

Nonconsensual drugging, loss of bodily autonomy. Overdose. Hallucinations, paranoia, surveillance, unreality. Descriptions of bodies in various states of decay. Limb loss.

ariet's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I picked this book up as my book to work on throughout the week, but Caitlin Starling kept me glued to my kindle all night. 

Quick plot summary: Gyre, our protagonist, accepts a job caving big enough to let her escape her home planet. Things go downhill. 

I love the small cast style. While we see a few other characters in bits and pieces, The Luminous Dead really focuses in on our caver, Gyre, and her handler

and daughter obsessed with the loss of her parents in said cave

Em. While often a small cast can feel tedious, Caitlin uses it to her advantage to build the sense of isolation and tension. 

There's a fair amount of body horror, and those who are squicked by thoughts of claustrophobic spaces or being trapped should probably avoid this one, but if those aren't serious turn-offs, I'd definitely pick it up.

Other random things I love(spoilers):

wlw and a somewhat hopeful ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Suicide and Abandonment

hyliansee's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

if mommy issues were a book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

dusty_mothman's review

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting

Moderate: Gore, Suicide, and Medical trauma