Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

57 reviews

cegerton's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A tender tale of a woman's love for her sister and girl's love for their friends. Not the most challenging book but definitely worth the read if you are into gothic type horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Murder

auddi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Such a haunting book. I won’t return to it because the place that I was at in my life distracted me away from it. Yet even while being distracted, it was still such a good book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

Finished reading: January 15th 2025

"That was what the books did—they turned off your thinking for you, put their thoughts in your head so you wouldn't have your own."

I'm a fan of Simone St. James' writing and I love a good historical gothic thriller, so I'm honestly still not sure why it took me this long to actually pick up my copy of The Broken Girls. I'm definitely kicking myself now though, because while not my absolute favorite story written by her, I still ended up having an excellent time reading it. This book uses a dual timeline structure, switching between 1950 with four different POVs and 2014 with one POV. I personally did feel we didn't need the POVs of all four girls in the 1950s timeline; it made it harder to connect to them and I would have much preferred a focus on just one or two of the girls instead. That said, I did enjoy the 1950 timeline with the school setting and the paranormal/gothic/ghost element is well incorporated. I confess that ghost stories don't always work well for me, but I really like what this element added in The Broken Girls. The 2014 timeline focuses on Fiona, who is a journalist with a complicated past. It did take me some time to warm up to her and she could get frustrating at times, but I liked the investigation into Idlewild and the way certain facts were slowly revealed. The two timelines are initially only connected by location rather than the characters, but everything comes together in the end. I did see some of the twists coming, but there were also a couple surprises and as a whole I really enjoyed my time with this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

perkichu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

A truly compelling story!!! Powerful women, tragic backstories, mysteries that have deserved to get solved for years. A corrupt police force, daring journalists, AH! I could not put this down. Incredibly well-written and heart-wrenching. The pace speeds up towards the end and there is a nice conclusion but I wouldn’t mind the story continuing because I just don’t want it to end. Compelling is the only word I have to describe at the moment. Just wow. Also, ACAB forever and journalism for the win.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder

mjabel's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Suicide attempt

hedy_b's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Simone St. James is one of my favorite authors but it took me a couple tries to get into this book. I’m so very glad I came back for another go. This time I finished and what a ride. It’s just a slow slow start then get ready to hang on for those last few chapters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Sexual assault

lindzboots's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

That was exquisite. So intriguing, so unsettling and disturbing, so excellent. The characters were all detailed and wonderful (or infuriating, depending, or both), the plot and the mystery so well-crafted, and the atmosphere incredibly creepy. The writing was absolutely wonderful - perfectly descriptive and constantly evoking just the right images and emotions. Really, really well done. The perfect read for spooky season or the early part of winter! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Classism

shedevls's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

i don’t think st. james can do any wrong. if she writes a book, you can bet i’m going to read and love every word of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and War

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

swhite4's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Antisemitism

emileejacks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Stalking

One main content warning which is also a spoiler is

antisemitism

because the historical death mystery line is that

Sonja survived a concentration camp, moved to the boarding school, and ended up living in the same town as a former prison guard of the camp. Even though Sonja was not Jewish, the school dismissed her disappearance because antisemitism and BIG SPOILER: prison guard murdered her.