Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

10 reviews

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

jadecorissamartin's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Antisemitism

Minor: Child death

rescuemama97's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

haleybre's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

b_lownds127's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I really enjoyed parts of this story, the ghost story for one, the 1950 storyline for another. The 2014 storyline felt forced and unrealistic to me, I did not feel the "romance" of the characters to be convincing and the Big Bad felt incredibly over the top. 

<<<<<Spoiler: 

I felt the resolution of the ghost story was too vague, I really enjoyed the resolution of the 1950 murder, and was irritated beyond tolerance by the end of the 2014 mystery. I felt the author was making a great point about the "good ole boy" cops and small town quid pro quo system with victim silencing accompanied by shoddy police work and then she completely went off the rails and gave us a cop willing to literally hide bodies, cover up murders, kill a journalist, and then shoot at his own son. All the believability ebbed away at that point and I feel the MC's conversation with the irritated chief of police at the end of the book made a better point than the rest of the "corrupt cop" storyline. >>>>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

Told in dual timelines, The Broken Girls is the story of four best friends at a remote boarding school for troubled teens, and a journalist trying to learn buried details of her sister’s murder.

I love a good ghost story, and Simone St. James writes some of the best. The Sun Down Motel remains one of my all time favorites thrillers, and I really enjoyed The Book of Cold Cases earlier this year, so I was super excited to get my hands on The Broken Girls this spooky season. Overall I really enjoyed it—the themes of female friendship and empowerment were really meaningful to me, and I particularly loved the underlying message about the importance of telling stories and not erasing women’s trauma.

I will say that I ultimately wanted a little more from the plot, which sometimes felt a bit disconnected to me, and I wish there had been a bigger twist or two. Still, the creepy boarding school vibes and hauntingly (pun very intended) beautiful writing definitely make this a top notch recommendation for this time of year!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: ghost stories; stories about uncovering and healing from trauma; dual timeline thrillers

CW: Death/murder/attempted murder (including of a child); grief; sexual assault/rape; traumatic brain injury; mentions of anti-semitism/Nazism/concentration camps; mentions of PTSD/suicide/suicide attempt; miscarriage/stillbirth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

shannananahey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Antisemitism

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, and Child death

beccam22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Read this if you like:
🕰 Actually good dual timelines 
👯‍♀️ Close friend groups
🔪 who done it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism

onemamareads's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

Read my full review here: https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/the-broken-girls

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and War

colleenward_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

wowza.
I absolutely love when a mystery moves at a pace that you can follow, and actually lets you feel like you can be a detective in the story. Expletives were shouted when my suspicions were confirmed; I love love LOVE when that happens!

I had very little knowledge of the plot when starting this book but quickly became attached to the story of four boarding school girls: Sonia, Katie, CeCe, and Roberta. I also really enjoyed the switching of time periods and the connectedness of everyone living in this little town in Vermont. 

The Broken Girls has a little bit of everything - spook, thrill, mystery - and I’d strongly recommend it to anyone who is looking for an extension of spooky szn right about now!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Gun violence