Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra

24 reviews

brooke_berry's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sinsandscares's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎧 Narrated by Emily Ellet

Nightwatching is a gripping and deeply unsettling read. The opening chapter is pure terror. A mother, home alone with her children during a blizzard, faces an intruder. But the true horror unfolds after as she fights to be believed, to regain her children, and to even trust herself.

This book captures the hypervigilance women are forced to have, the way their concerns are dismissed as paranoia or attention-seeking. Sierra does a phenomenal job making the reader feel that firsthand. Even I found myself questioning the protagonist, wavering between doubt and belief right until the end.

Readers expecting nonstop action should know that while the first chapter is intense, the rest leans more into psychological suspense. The entire story is told through the mother’s inner monologue, which heightens the isolation but leaves other characters less fleshed out.

I listened to this on Libby, and Emily Ellet’s narration was fantastic. Her voice work, especially for “the Corner,” added so much depth.

This is not just a thriller but a sharp, unsettling reflection on fear, doubt, and the fight to be heard. 
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kyndallkay's review against another edition

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

4.5

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kvcatnip's review against another edition

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

5.0

This is a really difficult read, and therefore a really important one. A mother locked in her home with her two young children while an intruder tries to hurt them and the following events are horrific to read. And yet, they expertly express the way women are not believed. We are categorically told that we are overly sensitive, anxious, paranoid, and obsessive instead of believed. Small things matter to us, because we learn to look for things everywhere. 

I cannot recommend this enough to every person who thinks they can emotionally or mentally handle it. This book deserves way more spotlight.
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april_reads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Night Watching by Tracy Sierra is an impressive debut thriller that packs a punch.

The story begins with a mother waking in the middle of the night to find a stranger in her home. She hides her children in a secret room to protect them and escapes, but the details of that night become hazy. As doubt creeps in, questions arise: Did this really happen? Is she losing her mind? Or is something even more sinister at play?

I’ll admit, I almost DNF’d this book. The beginning felt a bit too familiar, like many other thrillers I’ve read. But around the halfway mark, things took start to look less clear, and I’m so glad I stuck with it. The tension ramps up, and it becomes impossible to put down.

I recommend this to fans of  thrillers that keep you guessing until the end. Stick with it—this one is worth the ride!
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shedevls's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.5

at first, i was a little worried about how well this would keep my attention when it’s 351 pages and we’re dropped into the thick of things on the first page, but it seems i was worried for nothing.

this was a wonderful book, even more so as a debut novel, and it’s one i’ll be recommending to everyone… just, for any other women (or those who are empathetic to the way women are treated by others, especially men), be prepared to punch the air more than a few times.
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elysianbud's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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czoltak's review against another edition

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

1.0

This was the most infuriating thing I’ve ever read. Nothing happened other than a woman being gaslit by literally everyone and men being their incompetent, misogynistic, asshole selves for 300+ pages 🙄
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lcg527's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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katikins's review

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dark mysterious tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

The darker twin to “men have called her crazy”. Whether we acknowledge it or not we are all forced to operate within societal hierarchies of credibility. The author really beats readers over the head with this throughout the book which creates redundancies that were hard to slog through. It was worth getting through though because once the  pace picked up again I couldn’t put it down.
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