Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

199 reviews

ashobs95's review against another edition

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dark sad tense 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

3.5

The plot was very predictable
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courtneyking713's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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veroliciousss's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

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gneumann's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this was a really tough read. i should not have read this
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sshpurple1's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Look up the trigger warning for this book.  This is a beautifully written, disturbing nightmare of a scenario—the chapters alternate points of view between Christoper, Hannah, and Piper. Christoper will frustrate you; Hannah will cause concern for everyone’s mental and physical safety, and Piper will make you want to rage against a broken system.

This is my first Lucinda Berry book; it will not be my last. Even as frustrating as the ending is, I highly recommend it.
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faithsbookreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was WILD. So many moments had my jaw dropping & gasping. However, it was a disturbing read. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending. I think if the ending were a bit different, I would’ve rated higher, but due to the disturbing nature of the book & the not-so-great ending, I could only give 3 stars.
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novelnerd23's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

This was my first lucinda berry novel. She did not disappoint. I felt all the angst and stress and ick that I was supposed to feel as I read. 

Past tense dual perspective between two adoptive parents who are each having a uniquely different experience raising their emotionally damaged adopted daughter. Present tense perspective from the social worker who handled the adoption as she is being interviewed by detectives over child abuse allegations against the parents. This book was fast paced, unsettling, and in some ways downright scary. 

TW: mental illness, animal death, child abuse
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graceedd's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Loved the book, I just wasn’t a fan of the ending
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theknitterwithabook's review against another edition

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

4.5

An heartwarming tale about the family you choose...

...I'm kidding! This child is evil.

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

This book was so upsetting yet so captivating. I couldn't stop reading.

If you liked the movie The Orphan, this is the perfect book for you. It has similar vibes while being quite different. The child is obsessed with the father figure but she's so much more than that.

The author has a background as a psychologist and a researcher in childhood trauma. Therefore, you get a very clinical, copy/pasted from the DSM-IV type of child. You cannot have a more perfect example of a psychopathic kid. 

All characters have issues of some kind but one that stood out, other than the child, was Christopher. He is both the victim and the villain and I didn't think I could despise a character more than that.

Be careful to check TW before going in as there's some mention of abuse and a ton of gaslighting. 

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emilycyr14's review against another edition

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dark
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

I’m giving this less than 1 star because it doesn’t even deserve that. I DNF’ed at 70% because it made me sick to my stomach. Do not take trigger warnings lightly. This book is graphic as fuck and I’ve read my fair share of horror. This was worse especially because it was graphic just for the sake of being graphic
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