Daisy Darker

I figured out the “twist” 60 pages into this book and I felt like it was pretty obvious. None of the characters were likable and it was boring for a thriller. Meh.

4.5 stars. This book was great. I really enjoyed it, and I loved everything from the setting to the characters, to the reveal.

Man, this was going so well until the reveal. Then... oof, not my thing at all. I feel like parts of the book don't make sense with the reveal, but I'd have to reread and I don't care enough. Good start, didn't care for the explanation. :/

(Guessing on the start date cuz I forgot to log it...)

Wow. I felt a little bored by this book until i was about 60% done. I expected to give it 3 stars. There was nothing happening and i was unimpressed by the writing (which was sad because i LOVE Alice's other books). AND THEN the ending happened and i realized everything i missed in the first 60% and i went back reading as much as i could absolutely marveling at Alice's ability to make that first 69% work. WOW. Holy shit. I have been manipulated in the best way possible and i want to re read the entire book to feel in awe at everything that i couldn't have picked up on until i knew the ending. WOW.

Also an agatha stan and loved the nod to her. Knew the red herring was somewhere as it was in and then there were none.

Just so much fun. I read it over Halloween and it is absolutely perfect for this time of year. I loved the homage to the queen of crime - Agatha Christie - and did not see the reveals coming.

I see this has mixed reviews but I loved this twist!!! I saw one thing coming because I read “and then there were none” so I truly appreciated the author adding a few other twists for everyone to be surprised.

Overall a really good book and one I may even reread! I would highly recommend this as a good road trip book but I read it normally.

Sixth sense meets And then there were none in a very patchy way.

4.25

TW: suicide, alcoholism

This would have been a 5 star read if i wasn't for the ending... It has so many elements that I loved: the gloomy atmosphere chef's kiss. The characters are stuck in the house with a murder on the loose and clues/messages keep mysteriously appearing, which was very fun. Flashbacks (told through Daisy's POV) that slowly but surely reveal family secrets and helps us the reader understand more of their dynamic with one another (this family is highly dysfunctional). There are short little poems thrown in about each family member that hint at how they may or may not die. It's very “and then there were none” inspired, so if you enjoyed that book and you like the elements I mentioned then I say pick it up! But I must warn you that the ending may not be for everyone.


SPOILERS AHEAD: in case you want to know what happens in this book:




It turns out that Daisy Darker has been dead this whole time. I have a few issues with this. It did clear up why her family members kept ignoring her (even though I didn't really notice it that much). It also explains why Daisy never really helped move any bodies and why no one asked for her help when she was standing right there. However, there were two instances where it didn't really make sense. The first was when Daisy was in her room alone with Conner (the neighbor), she says something to him and he replies and has a full on small conversation with her. Was it maybe him just talking out loud? Not sure.. In another scene, Daisy, her sister Rose and her niece Trixie where in a room hiding from the murderer when Rose straight up asks “Daisy are you doing this?”, Daisy replies no and just the exchange felt like they were actually talking to each other. It's just very weird.. Rose knows her sister is dead why would she all of a sudden be asking this?

Anyway, you're probably wondering who the killer is and the answer is....Trixie, the 15 year old niece. With the help of 80 year old Nana, yes the first one to be “murdered”. I know you are confused but bare with me, let's go back to the beginning of the storyline. Daisy has a heart condition, so her life expectancy was very low. Because of this she wasn't allowed to do anything, because her parents were worried it would kill her. But don't be fooled, her parents are very wishy washy with their feelings and mainly don't seem to really care about anyone but themselves. Parents divorce, drama and mess ensue blah blah. Point is, that Daisy only really has her sisters for company and even then not really because Rose and Lily are assholes, especially Lily. I hate Lily with all my soul, to say she is an entitled brat is an understatement. So naturally Daisy loved going to her grandma's because Nana truly was the only one who loved her.

To make a long story short we will fast forward to what I will call “the accident”. It is implied that something bad happened between Daisy, Rose, Lily and Conner because after whatever it was, no one has spoken to Daisy and things were tense. When Daisy was 13 she snuck out to a halloween party because she was tired of not being able to be like a normal person. Her sisters and Conner (who were at the party) find her and let her stay. It's important to mention that the rest were between 17-18 years old and Rose and Conner were dating, and Lily was very jealous of that. Daisy ends up catching Lily and Conner having sex after Conner and Rose got into a fight. Daisy tells Rose but she doesn't believe her and Lily and Conner gaslight so Daisy gets mad and starts running back to the grandma's house. Somehow Rose, Lily and Conner end up in the car driving back home as well (the pacing here is a bit weird). Conner is drunk driving and ends up hitting Daisy without even noticing until they all get out. They are naturally freaking out and Conner convinces the sisters to throw Daisy down the cliff to make it look like she fell. So they do and midair Daisy revives, while all three are looking in shock horror realizing that their sister was actually alive and they have now murdered her twice. She dies, the police investigate and since the car belonged to Conners dad and he was back to being an alcoholic, he thought that he accidentally did it but didn't remember it during his drunken state. He commit's suicide mainly due to guilt.

Eventually, the mom finds out because Lily tells her (she is the mom's favorite) so to protect her daughter she keeps her secret. I believe the dad also found out and he too kept his mouth shut. Basically everyone knew except Nana. Trixie was born, Lily's daughter (we find out towards the end Conner is the father), and she too had the same heart condition as Daisy. One day she dies for a few minutes and that's how she see's Daisy for the first time. After that she constantly see's her and that's how she finds out the real story behind her death. Her mom Lily is very upset about this and forbids her to talk about her dead sister. Nana notices that Trixie is telling the truth because she has seen things move around. So when Nana finds out the truth, she gets extremely angry because Daisy was her favorite so she makes this plan as an act of revenge and is hoping it will also help Daisy move to the afterlife. The mom, dad, sisters and Conner die and Nana commits suicide to be able to see her granddaughter for the last time. Apparently people only see Daisy when they are dying. Daisy also forgets she is dead and apparently this reveal has been done many times before. Instead of being an adult women, she is still 13 and in the same outfit that she died in. So yeah... Trixie is basically left alone and is apparently totally fine with that because they all put her in a bubble just like they did with Daisy and she just wants to live her life. It ends with Daisy writing a book about the “real daisy darker” in order to move on because she can still somehow interact with the physical world.

I would have LOVED if Daisy was actually alive and the killer because there are so many time she mentions that “maybe killing is worth keeping secrets” and other comments that made it seem like her being the killer was being foreshadowed. Based on how awful everyone (except the niece and Nana) were to her it would have made so much sense. Sure, it would be a “been there done that” type of ending but in my opinion sometimes simple is better and it would have been such a better revenge story. So I was disappointed.

3 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Unfortunately, I was accidentally spoiled for a major twist in this book. It was on my mind the entire time while everything was happening so it explained a lot of what was going on while I was reading. The experience was okay. Honestly, it was a lot of reminiscing and flashbacks that kind of hard me bored some of the time. I feel like even if I was spoiled, I'd they didn't have so many flashbacks and stayed focused on the present, I would've enjoyed it more.

I just didn't really understand the ending and I had some questions. It was pretty convoluted. Despite all that, I didn't have the worst time. It was alright and I'm giving it a middle of the road rating.

Had I not figured out the big twist of what was happening, I would have been completely blown away and given a higher reading. I guess I read too many thrillers, because while it was clever, I had read this type of twist before and guessed it pretty early on. The characters are all unlikeable, but that's part of the story. I loved the spooky vibes and the poems that related to the deaths. The deaths were also very well thought out, and reflective of the characters. I didn't like all of the flashback chapters, I feel like many of them could have been cut. The last 50 pages or so packs many twists, and the minor ones I didn't guess, and were pretty satisfying. This would make a fun miniseries!

Can't rave about this enough! RTC

A wonderfully dark whodunnit with an incredible twist at the end. Exceedingly good.

I worked out the twist somewhere around chapter 2, but that really didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book. It feels like a better written Lucy Foley, and the And Then There Were None influence is apparent. The setting and the characters were very good, and my only complaint was that the reveal felt very rushed, like too much was being explained at once.

this was incredible oh my god

It gained a star for that twist cause ohmygod I didn't see that coming. Took a little bit to get used to the flowery narration but it didn't take too long. It made for some of the sweetest revenge since most of the characters were so annoying and just awful people.

Alice Feeney is a master of suspense. I didn't think there would be any topping Rock, Paper, Scissors but Daisy Darker surpassed my expectations (which were high to begin with).

Speaking as someone who comes from her own brand of dysfunctional family, there was something cathartic about this story for me. It's filled with miscommunication, revenge, bitterness, justice, as well as the complicated love that comes along with a toxic family dynamic. The book is told from Daisy's perspective but we get a good glimpse of all of the characters and why they might have a motive to kill. 

There's a great mix of suspense, twists, and even a little bit of creepiness. Even while I did predict each part of the ending, I couldn't have imagined it as a whole. I had plenty of suspicions, but it was a situation with so many possible suspects that I didn't want to cling to any one theory for very long. 

The narrator for the audiobook did a wonderful job, putting emotion in the right places but never over the top in her delivery. Her voice was a compliment to Daisy. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

3.5ish