Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

20 reviews

smixter88's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Let me start by saying HOLY SH*T, what a wild ride. It's a very disturbing read, but man does Lucinda Berry nail it. Go in blind if you don't have triggers. If you do, you must look them up, because this book may not be for you. She kept me hooked from the very first page. I can't wait to read the second novella for this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

westernsunshine's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

coffeebookssleep's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

beckyrae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

Moderate: Drug abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

secretlybatman4's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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

4.0

Knocked a star off because Christopher really annoyed me and the ending was just…. Abrupt. I was hoping for more just to tie up the end of the Baurs story. The beginning was boring af too so I almost stopped reading but then I pushed through and I consumed to book very quickly. Definitely will read more books by Dr Berry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol

haleyp898's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Death of parent

silverheartbookclub's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

yunsq's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

Read content warnings first before reading the book!!

I am struggling to rate this one. Don’t get me wrong, I devoured the book in 3 days. The fastest I’ve read since I’ve gotten into a reading slump in the last months. I say struggle because of how dark, stomach-churning and unsettling the story is, and anxiety-inducing it was for me. 

Not to say that the ending was too open for my liking. I felt like I pulled through all of the front bits for no reward lol. Perhaps it was meant to replicate real life? Where there really isn’t a well-crafted ending?? Maybe we don’t really have to know how the couple would react to the news for us to acknowledge that evil exists? It also didn’t sit right with me that we quickly went from trauma-informed behaviour to born-evil conclusions. Could’ve been handled better and with more sensitivity, in my opinion. 

Another review mentioned how the world-building and some of the major events were contradicting throughout the multi-POV chapters, or even just completely forgotten. This I absolutely agree with. 

Overall, maybe a 3? I’m not really sure what to feel about it. Other than my lingering fear from the story maybe. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Infertility, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Excrement, and Vomit

raine83's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infertility, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol

tatereads's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail