Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole

7 reviews

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Mental illness, Murder, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Grief, Sexual violence, Confinement, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Classism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

crystalisreading's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• 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

4.75

Wow!  what a ride! Not sure it totally stuck the landing, but it was fresh and compelling and I couldn't put it down. Alyssa Cole can write about anything.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Torture, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Self harm, Stalking, Classism, Cursing, Misogyny, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Mental illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexual content

lbelow's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

5.0

This book is over the top my best book of the year. Maybe of the decade! Every now and again, there's a book you just click with, and this was it for me. Ken's prickly personality and how she comes to realize she is worth kindness and happiness in the end; her contentious relationship with Solomon; the brittle-to-breaking emotional state of everyone in the system and how it ramped up the tension of everything that happened; that layered mystery about past and present, inner and outer worlds, and how they overlapped. I've long been a fan of Alyssa Cole, and she proves in this book her mastery of storytelling! 

Mind the triggers, and happy reading! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Murder, Gore, Gaslighting, Sexism, Classism, Cursing, Blood, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Death, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Ableism, Misogyny, and Violence

Minor: Suicide attempt and Abandonment

leahkarge's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Hate crime, Infidelity, Blood, and Stalking

misha_ali's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

This was the book form of a one-woman play. I went in expecting more of a murder mystery but the blurb gives away the fact that there will be a murder and that our main character, Ken, is the person being blamed because she's attacked the same man in the past and also has Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID). 

Unfortunately, Ken is only mostly sure it wasn't her who killed this horrible man but could one of her "headmates", i.e. her other identities, known and unknown to her, have done it instead?

I really enjoyed the deep dive into the science of DID. Each of the headmates has a compelling and separate personality, voice, and agenda and they bicker and enjoy each other's company while periodically taking control for varying amounts of time of being a co-pilot with someone else. 

It's really easy, when making a condition like DID the main subject of a thriller, to make things overly dramatic or demonize the condition for shock value. I appreciate that this doesn't happen here and the mysterious circumstances have explanations that make sense without being sensationalist about DID and are compelling because each of the identities is a whole person and the narrative treats them this way.

Really fun, fast-paced, and a novel take on the idea of a locked room (island?) mystery when one person contains multitudes.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

uranaishi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Gun violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Gore, Stalking, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Rape, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Slavery, War, Ableism, Alcohol, and Sexual content

corrieroe's review

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

3.5

Another one I'd recommend skipping the blurb if you like your mysteries to be mysterious...

One of Us Knows is a thriller with multiple mysteries that created a gothic atmosphere but that is also grounded in reality. I ultimately thought it was trying to do too much in its conclusion, but it has a solid foundation and interesting characters that make it an easy read.

I was excited to receive an ARC of this book from the publishers via a giveaway. I read When No One Is Watching in 2020 (also coincidentally received through a giveaway), and thought Alyssa Cole's foray into thrillers was solid and compelling. This book reminded me a lot of When No One Is Watching in its tone and outlook. 

Like much of Cole's writing, the story hooked me from the start. It was natural to learn alongside Ken, our protagonist, who has dissociative identity disorder (DID), as she came back to fronting after six years of essentially mental hibernation, when her headmates led them through the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I did not know anything about DID but felt like I learned something through reading this book, and, as always with Cole, through a holistic, compassionate, and humanizing lens. The mysteries of this book were not only what was happening with the historic home where Ken and her headmates have apparently accepted a job, but also with what is going on with their inner world. 

In addition to the pandemic, there are some things included / alluded to in this book that may be a no-go for some. I'd check out the readers submitted content warnings and am including those that stuck out the most to me.

Hate crimes motivated by perceived deviance and eugenics, 'outing' mental health/illness, racism, misogyny, gaslighting, sexual assault attempt, abusive partner, suicide attempt

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Mental illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, Death, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Ableism, Death of parent, Confinement, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol and Vomit