Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

57 reviews

imnotharold's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

jmdressel's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

some pretty heavy trigger warnings in this book! it was a good slow burn read with twists and turns everywhere. some parts were very dark and difficult to get through, but overall it was worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Physical abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest, Torture, and Pregnancy

123itsmeemily's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest

lestatbp's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

0.25

A terrible book. I felt like I read the notes and outlines for five different books. 

The first part is nice and slow and mysterious. About halfway through it all goes to hell with messy plots, characters who all of a sudden act differently or disappear from the story, characters that appear from nowhere and have nothing to do with the plot, and and hundreds of red herrings that are just there for no reason (not ever referenced again, just filler to confuse your mind).

It's a real shame because it could have been a great story. It almost feels like it was written by AI because it has huge gaping holes or things said about characters that make no sense to a human mind. 

I read 150 books a year and, honestly, it is the worst book I have read in five years. Don't waste your time. I assume the rest of her books are as bad, so I wouldn't bother with trying another one by the "author." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Just a terrible book that seemed to stuff in as many "triggering" topics as possible whether they pertain to the story or not. It was a really bizarre experience reading this.

mamamlc3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lolohedrick's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Overall, I found this book very riveting. I wanted to know more and in the end, we really know nothing at all. I think it's better that way though. I would read more from this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

caitlin_davis22's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

badflowerbee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Lisa Jewell really knows how to make a book genuinely suspenseful, and this book absolutely earns the right to call itself a thriller. I often get a little frustrated that I'm able to guess the plot twists and endings of mystery books before all of the exposition is even laid out, but this one pulled me in ten different directions and actually surprised me in multiple instances. It also doesn't insult the intelligence of its audience by overexplaining. It knows we are able to fill in the gaps ourselves, which keeps the pacing up and feels more like natural speech. 
This book also works so much better as an audiobook. Since the story is in the format of a true crime documentary about a podcast, having the voices of different actors speak the bits that are meant to be clips of recordings really enhanced the reading experience. I was so impressed by the writing, the performance, and the story as a whole. A very rare 5-star rating from me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Bullying, and Vomit

nyantastic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A wild, intense, ride where nothing is quite what is seems so you can't know what is true. One of the fastest I've ever finished a book because I was so thoroughly invested in the story. It left me with a complicated mix of emotions about the Fair family! I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version.  It is perfect for the podcast/TV show theme the book has and it is narrated with a full cast which makes it really feel like you're listening to a real podcast.

⚠️ Definitely read the content warnings for this book if you have any triggers, there's a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy

annaaa_1294720's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was a good, easy to read book, while it wasn’t an amazing, prize-winning work it was still fun to read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying and Blood