Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Never Lie by Freida McFadden

6 reviews

sharlapeggy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

A good book. I enjoyed it, didn’t see the twist coming and I wanted to find out more. I liked the dual perspectives in this book too. That helps keep me interested! But I doubt I’d read it again and it’s one of her more forgettable ones compared to the others I’ve LOVED and rated 5 stars (ward D, the teacher, the housemaid and housemaids secret). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Confinement, Blood, Child death, Torture, Gore, Animal death, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical content, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Death, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Murder

bringmybooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Bring | ✨Borrow✨ | Bypass

Review: Um. WHAT. That was ... wild? and ... weird? and ... addictive? but ... wow? Filled with tons of tension + lots of twists, only about half of which I'd guessed. This was my first Freida McFadden, and I know she's a bit of a divisive author but I'm not entirely sure why (maybe because they're really formulaic?). I don't necessarily know if I'd pick up another one, but there's a fair amount on Kindle Unlimited, and I imagine if I found myself in a bit of a book slump I wouldn't be adverse to picking one of these up hoping I couldn't put it down!
 

Overall Rating: ★★★★ / 4.38 
 
Rating each element of the book out of 5★ 
Characters ★★★★ 
Atmosphere ★★★★ 
Writing ★★★ 
Plot ★★★★ 
Intrigue ★★★★★ 
Logic ★★★★ 
Enjoyment ★★★ 
Pacing ★★★★★ 
Dialogue ★★★ 

★ did not like / ★★ it was okay / ★★★ liked it / ★★★★ really liked it / ★★★★★ loved it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Infidelity, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Gore, Murder, Confinement, Stalking, Death of parent, and Vomit

dblue236's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I thought I had this all figured out by a third of the way through it and fancied myself the smartest person alive... only to turn out to be almost entirely wrong. I'm holding on to the tiny shred of dignity I have left because I was kind of in the ballpark. This author hasn't disappointed me yet, and while her books aren't necessarily rampant with realism, I enjoy the hell out of them and always look forward to starting a new one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Mental illness, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Rape, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Torture

Minor: Car accident, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Alcohol

phantomgecko's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Not impressed with the writing. But the plot was aight. 

I had my doubts going in though. And I remained dubious through most of the beginning as well.

Specifically, I assumed EJ was Ethan, and I was afraid that would be the "big twist" at the end. That her husband was an abusive narcissist. So it's nice that I was wrong about that.

Books with domestic abuse are a little frustrating to read because I'm always like, girl run! But this was alright. Though I found the portrayal of the relationship unrealistic for the given timeline. If you've known someone a year, you should definitely know some of the things she said she didn't. idk, if you suck at communicating anything ever at all, maybe it makes sense.

Alas, poor, Luke.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Murder

crowray's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

the therapist was the best part of the book. good story, writing felt a bit weird at times, felt like it was trying to be super on the nose about leading you to believe a certain conclusion. ending  twist felt a bit rushed. loved the multiple POV’s and the characters felt super complex and you couldn’t grasp an exact idea of who’s the villain and who isn’t which was nice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Car accident, Alcohol, Murder, Death of parent, Cursing, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Drug abuse, and Addiction

daepyonimst's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Drug abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Alcoholism