Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney is a thriller in which a family meets at the matriarch's gothic house on an isolated island. One by one they start to die. Duhduhdunnnn. 

I liked it? I think? I mean, Feeney has a strange writing style in which she just randomly starts spouting philosophy in the middle of a scene in which something traumatic has happened, but it didn't really bother me too much. I was in it. Also, a lot of Goodreads reviews said that they guessed the ending, but I didn't. Maybe I'm just not good enough at foreshadowing or don't read enough thrillers. Ha. I was surprised! 

Also, the dog plays a surprisingly important role in the plot. This book is compared to The Guest List by Lucy Foley a lot (the covers are So. Similar. and so are the plots!), but I liked this one a lot more and I think a lot of it has to do with how great Poppins the Dog is. 

4/5 stars

Lines of note:
Families are like fingerprints; no two are the same, and they tend to leave their mark. The tapestry of my family has always had a few too many loose threads. (location 87)
An example of just random philosophizing. 

I wonder if other people look forward to seeing their families but dread it at the same time the way I always seem to. (location 156)
I feel seen.

Complaining is my sister’s not-so-secret superpower. She is a walking frown. (location 313)
I hope no one ever describes me this way!

Whenever I see my sisters, no matter how long it has been or how old they get, we always seem to regress to the versions of us we were as children. I suspect everybody time travels when reunited with their family. (location 436)
I describe my own reaction to being around my sister this same way. I will forever be a snotty 17-year-old around her.

My mother has always been of the belief that a cup of tea can solve almost anything. Bad day at the office? Have a cup of tea. Struggling to pay the bills? Have a cup of tea. Find out that your husband is cheating on you with a twenty-year-old harpist? Cup. Of. Tea. (location 1106)
Mostly I just want all of you to go have a listen to Great Big Sea's "Have a Cuppa Tea." We sing it almost daily in our house. 

“Everyone deserves a second chance,” Nana said when we were alone. 
“Even bad people?” I asked. 
“Everyone you know is both good and bad, it’s part of being human.”(location 1136)
I don't know if everyone deserves a second chance, to be honest. Maybe Nana is a nicer person than I am.

I sit on the floor, next to Poppins, just like I did when she was still a puppy. Dogs are much more comforting to be around than humans. (location 2666)
Ahem. I feel too seen by this book!

He looks up like a startled meerkat...(location 2846)
I always like to point out when people are described by animal metaphors. 

Hat mentions:

I’m wearing a fluffy bobble hat and one of Lily’s hand-me-down coats. (location 1827)

She was wearing a purple coat with a matching purple hat and gloves...(location 2808)

Then she stood up and removed her witch’s hat, black dress, and shoes before running toward the sea in just her underwear. (location 3364)