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

nikii_js's review

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

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

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

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

Minor: Vomit and Self harm

jillaay_h's review

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

cathyrodgers'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? 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: Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Grief, and Suicide

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

Minor: Child death and Self harm

katsmedialibrary's review

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

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

saltedsnail's review

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

Moderate: Child death

sofipitch'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? 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, Death of parent, Suicide, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child death

digitalroses's review

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

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

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