Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Schwarzer See by Riley Sager

32 reviews

blackcatkai's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

CW: Mental Illness, gaslighting, ableism, alcoholism, disordered eating, body shaming/fatphobia, murder, death, bullying, violence, blood, toxic friendship, suicide attempt, grief, cancer/terminal illness, some sexual content

I'm not necessarily entirely happy with the mental illness rep, but overall, I really enjoyed this. that ending, I swear. I love Riley Sager's writing and I'm so glad I finally got to this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Death, Murder, and Suicide attempt

minimicropup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

Had a great time listening to this as an audio book - was taken in and lost in the world of the camp. The narration and writing style were both excellent. Well done twists and turns that didn’t feel contrived or added just to surprise or confuse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Mental illness

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Body shaming, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Terminal illness, and Cancer

hellokatya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

3.75

i’m really unsure how i feel about this book.
i really, really, enjoyed the ending. i think it really solidified this book, but i do have a few issues:
1. it was a bit hard to pick up again once i had put it down. during the read it was interesting enough to keep going, but it was hard to get the motivation again once i had stopped.
2. the story didn’t really pick up until the 30% mark and the main plot themes weren’t fully developed until around the 40% mark — all the backstory from the blurb had already been put out so why did it take so long for any development to begin?
3. why is a 28 year old regressing to her teenaged cattiness?
4.

i dont like how much time was spent on the asylum being an integral part of the story, just for it to fall flat and be a minuscule (in the grand scheme) detail. where did the women go? why would they have just thrown the scissors into the lake (or left them in the asylum) if lottie’s family cared so deeply about the history of it? why was helmut never reunited with his sister?

5. in ch. 36: “maybe the only way to free myself from the grip of guilt is to learn the truth.” — why was this framed as some epiphany? this had been the goal from the very beginning of the book.
6. the girls, natalie and allison + sasha and krystal, are only given a few defining character traits and never really explored or developed beyond that - though their very existence is integral to the overall plot. (with natalie and allison i suppose it serves a greater purpose [?] )

overall: i think this book makes for a good binge read if you’re willing to stick it out for a pretty damn satisfying ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Medical trauma, Cancer, Grief, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Stalking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

fraise's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Child death, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

the adult/minor relationship is a consentual encounter between two teenagers

a 16 year old and a 19 year old

meghan01's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Suicide, Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Car accident, Child death, and Cancer

Minor: Suicide attempt

librariangeorgia's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

I'm a big fan of Sager's books anyway so I knew that i'd love this one.

It does start off a bit slow, but once it gets going it goes full speed ahead. 

Following 2 similar situations that happened 15 years apart, it seems so obvious who the culprit is. However, I had my doubts about the fact that everyone assumed it would be Emma. Saying that, I didn't guess the actual whodunnit - the first reveal was a complete surprise for me but the second one, I feel now that it was more obvious after finishing the book than when I was reading it.

But that ending! That was one hell of a way to end it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I thought I would. I was completely absorbed in this book, I literally did not lift my head whilst reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Mental illness, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Murder, and Toxic friendship

katyannreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child death, and Body shaming

Moderate: Cancer and Mental illness

wrestleacademic'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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, Cancer, Mental illness, and Confinement

bookishgoob's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

Sager’s work is so confusing to me. he can write incredible stories and he can write terrible stories with good ideas. this happened to be an incredible story. i could be biased because i LOVE summer camp horror stuff but i was intrigued the entire time. The plot twist was so interesting. I still have a slight problem with the way he write women sometimes but i did enjoy this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Torture, and Violence

hapalyn'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug use, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Terminal illness