Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson

43 reviews

kimikreil's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Drug use, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

chasinggrace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Vivian is so relatable to the female psyche that you want to hate her, but you can’t, because staunchly hating her would ignore how much you have in common with her. 

The writing is refreshingly modern without being cringey (which doesn’t mean that you won’t cringe at Vivian, but to her credit, she is funny). 

I really think this book is a fantastic snapshot of the modern anxious woman and how she must navigate a world that is positively fucked. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Rape, Classism, Medical content, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Addiction, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Racism, and Sexual content

narrnaul's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

she is so real.
seriously this is a very reflective and emotional book. i’ve never seen someone so accurately describe how your thoughts can generate a sort of mental sinkhole that is very hard to escape and can sometimes feel endless. like that’s literally how i think too whoa!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Child abuse, Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Sexual violence

creativerunnings's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Classism, Death, Alcohol, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

sarcomatic's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this novel. I appreciated that the author took time to go into the effects of estrangement after the abuse as I don’t see that experience written about as much. Vivian is a beautiful depiction of someone who has experienced some serious trauma because she feels REAL. Her fear, her anger, her harsh judgement of herself and others was, at times, difficult to read but gave it depth. It also is a great read about the effects of misogynoir, class, and sanism interact with each other and compound trauma on an individual.

Also her therapy sessions actually felt like I was in therapy, and I’ll have to take a couple pages of this book with me in the future… literally haha

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder

Moderate: Child abuse and Rape

This character has a LOT of disordered eating/ body image isssue thoughts throughout the book that go almost completely unchallenged. If that would be something triggering I would recommend avoiding this book.

kklecornu's review

dark funny reflective 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

4.25

I've never read a novel that so acutely captures what's happening in the mind of a woman in her late-20s/early-30s. The inner monologue pivoting from self-loathing to self-aggrandizing in one thought, the brooding about weight, the sizing up other women, the irony about making yourself palatable for some man you don't even know - it was like reaching into the deepest trenches of my brain and pulling out the things I would never admit to thinking. Johnson carefully constructed a character that was unlikable for many reasons, but none more so than the uncomfortable fact that she is a mirror of the reader. I loved how this book built to a head, but can't give it five stars because the wind down after the climax was drawn out but didn't have the same emotional depth as the rest of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

jtpgdavey's review

dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Cursing, Racism, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Homophobia

Minor: Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, and Adult/minor relationship

sneha_sarcar's review

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Mental illness

eddaderya's review against another edition

challenging slow-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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Rape

annastasia_will's review

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Body shaming

Moderate: Child abuse