Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow

31 reviews

tinytike_sela's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Child abuse, Grief, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Addiction, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Abortion, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

alanacicc's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Heartbreaking. I cried. I also cried even more during the author’s note.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Abandonment, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcohol, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abortion, Animal death, Car accident, Self harm, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Pregnancy

audreylee's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Grief goes on forever. It may change from an overwhelming, drowning pain to more of an ebb and flow but it will never go completely away. This is what sixteen-year-old Grace "Tiger" Tolliver discovers following the unexpected death of her mother. She loses her only family member and her life as she knew it. She also discovers the hidden griefs of those around her. Tiger meets many people of differing circumstances and learns how to process her grief and anger in good ways and bad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Eating disorder, Child abuse, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

matcharlyy's review against another edition

dark inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Vomit, Eating disorder, Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, Alcohol, Mental illness, Car accident, and Child abuse

Moderate: Gore, Violence, Dementia, Drug abuse, and Blood

4_kozer4's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

wishyouweresober's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, Car accident, Cursing, Physical abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Abandonment, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abortion

This book is really dark, PLEASE LOOK AT THE CONTEXTS WARNINGS FIRST!!!

nara_knl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

losing someone is terrible… but grieving and living with that big suck… that’s even harder…
i wish i read this one sooner, after losing my cousin who meant the world to me, i was just as lonely and sad as tiger..
this book is great for grieving people, friends of grieving people, people without any contact to grieving…
this is a beautiful, heartbreaking and at the same time healing book! 
(still not as good as girl in pieces tho)
thank you kathleen glasgow for turning the hard things life into something wonderful!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Self harm, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Addiction, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcoholism, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Child abuse, Bullying, Grief, and Violence

paigereitz's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, and Addiction

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Suicide

someryarns's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Death, Abandonment, Bullying, Grief, Medical content, Child abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Cursing, Suicide, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Self harm

Minor: Vomit and Abortion

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

It's always been just Tiger and her mother June. A well-oiled mother and daughter team. Until her mom suddenly dies and leaves Tiger all alone. How does one survive such a thing?

This is primarly a book about grief. Grief expresses itself in different ways, and for Tiger it leads to an ocean of tears, an inability to eat, and a refusal to take off the dress her mother bought her, although Tiger hates it. The author is very skilled at describing how Tiger manages her grief, but that also makes it pretty hard to read. At first I find it a bit repetitive and too much rumination about the same things. But the more I read, the more Tiger comes to life.

Tiger is 16 years old, but often acts like she's at least a couple of years younger. June has been very overprotective and never let her go to parties or camps, or meet boys, and that could well be why Tiger feels younger. The two of them have been an almost isolated unit, and I believe that makes June's death even worse for Tiger. There's no safety net and she ends up in the system with foster care. There she discovers that there are children whose parents have abused them, or simply didn't care about them; the opposite of what Tiger has experienced. Apart from her mom's refusal to tell her about her father, so Tiger doesn't know anything about him, or if he's alive. 

It's no exaggeration that Tiger's world is turned upside down by her mom's death. She becomes a part of a world she's never known, going to and from different foster homes, until they can find a permanent solution. The author shows us both good and bad places, good and bad foster parents - just like it is in the real world. It's an emotional and sometimes tough read, but very beautifully written. I went from thinking the book dragged on somewhat, to not wanting it to end!

"All your life, you've loved words and language, even if you aren't great at school. You've loved weird words and smart words and beautiful words and awkward words, all of them. Podunk. Mastermind. Effluvium. Macrosomatic. Hullabaloo. 

But there isn't a single word in the universe that you can think of that would describe the way you feel right now."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Abandonment, Bullying, Death of parent, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Abortion, and Toxic relationship