Reviews tagging '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

micallab's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

lay_kone's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Animal death

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

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

jaren's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

annaki_laila's review against another edition

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? Yes

2.5

A gothic novel that forgets it's  supposed to be a gothic novel. The first third is promising, the supernatural elements begin to appear and the suspense is there. Then halfway through, the narrator swiftly becomes unlikeable as he initiates a relationship with one of the main characters (with an age gap of over a decade and some generally uncomfortable vibes). The relationship should've been a subplot at most, but it begins to take up far too many pages, and as it continues the narrator just gets more and more selfish and irritating. I began skim-reading some parts at this point because there were so many pages of stuff that was annoying and unrelated to the whole supernatural plot. Having finished the book now, I can safely say that the relationship being romantic was unnecessary. Whatever overarching points about class were being made (which weren't as strong as I thought they'd be based on the blurb anyway) could've been made with the relationship being purely platonic. Anyway!! Rant over, save your time and probably just don't read this book, or read it with lowered expectations, because it really doesn't contain much 'gripping' or 'chilling' content like the blurb describes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Grief, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual assault and Racial slurs

angielisle's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Racial slurs

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