Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Stealing by Margaret Verble

5 reviews

sjanke2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Racism, Classism, Genocide, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Addiction, and Alcoholism

gwenswoons's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

katrinky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense

3.5

the most telling thing about this book for me was the acknowledgements section,where verble said she wrote this book in 2006-2007 but held onto it for years because non-native readers and editors didn't know what Indian residential schools were and couldn't fathom the depth of their depravity; that what happened to kit at one was too much of a break from verble's otherwise crystal clear, realistic writing style. so the publication of this book was really only made possible by the horror of discovery by white folks in the last 5-10 years that she had not actually been exaggerating in the slightest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Racism, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Gun violence, and Grief

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

 Stealing was a fantastic, well-told story and I loved the spunky protagonist Kit. Her mother has died and she’s living with her grief stricken father out in the country, spending a lot of her time alone gardening, fishing in the bayou or reading. When a glamorous single woman moves into the area she and Kit strike up a firm friendship. Until a judgemental busybody interferes, tragedy ensues and Kit ends up being sent to a religious boarding school. Kit is part Cherokee and the reasons for her being sent there as opposed to being able to live with family members and her experiences while there are probably exactly what you are imagining. But what stops this book being totally depressing and overwhelming is Kit’s personality. She’s sharp, smart, increasingly wise to the ways of sneaky two-faced adults, and while terrible things happen to her - and they are sensitively not graphically depicted - she is no mere victim. Rather she is a survivor, strong and determined, instrumental in engineering what looks to be a successful escape and hopefully a takedown of abusive church and school leavers. I also loved the portrayal of the environment, Kit’s supportive family, her involved if imperfect father, and the relationship between her and Bella. While Kit is an unreliable narrator in some ways I can certainly understand why she didn’t reveal certain things. Partly she was a child who did not fully understand the world; partly she was a child who already understood the world all to well and knew she couldn’t trust systems to do right by her and her family because they were Cherokee. A compelling story on the harrowing impact of racism and abuse under the guise of religion on one young Indigenous girl.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

annabulkowski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Medical content, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness