Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

73 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

avery_severance's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Murder, and Alcohol

saltymango's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism

hanae_togami's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Murder

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

youaremykiseki's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

Generally an interesting read and premise, although I wish the blurb had been a lot less revealing. I did like the slow reveal and unraveling, but I felt that there were a lot of loose ends that weren't quite addressed. One plot point that bothered me was

Nathan's supposed use of cocaine,

which never got mentioned again after

Alix found the plastic bag

. I think the

lack of backstory about Nathan made it impossible for the reader to figure out his motivations 
/reasons for the drinking problems, so I felt a bit cheated with the reveal at the end.

I liked that in the end

we still got conflicting stories: do we trust Josie's POV or do we trust her children's?

My last complaint is that there was a lot of talk about

the husband being a pedophile, but in the end he was painted as a good father, and loved by his children, and supposedly he was manipulated into a relationship with Josie, but that doesn't really answer how that's possible? Like, he was in his 40s and she was a teenager. How do you get manipulated into marriage in that situation?

I also just want to know why

nobody involved the police at any point until later. How did child services not find any problems in that home. Is she just a master liar and manipulator?

Anyway, the premise was intriguing, and I liked the format of switching POV and "mixed media" interspersed with the narration. I do wonder what the rules are for straight up saying there's a fictional Netflix series in the book. Overall wouldn't recommend the book but if you do read it, go in without reading the blurb.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use and Pandemic/Epidemic

sam_gartley91's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The end’s twist and turns were great but sad! In the middle I got a very odd feeling and wasn’t sure I liked it but that was probably just the odd feeling I felt for a bunch of the characters and not feeling like I really knew what was going on…. Who was “good” or what was the “truth” which I’m sure is the point but wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue with the story because of it.  But glad in the end I did because it turned out sad but really interesting and engaging. Will probably look into more of this author’s stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

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

bisexualchaos's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I love a good psychological mystery where you don’t know what questions to ask! Minus a quarter point for occasional show-not-telling, especially with appearances, though I think the author did the best she could & I haven’t found a way that I really like character’s appearances being described in any novel, really. Another quarter point for the idea that

someone who is the victim of grooming can also be the abuser

. I know it’s fiction, and I know that’s part of the point of the book to focus on that relationship, but I think people could take away the wrong idea from it. Women don’t really need to be told that

they aren’t victims in that scenario

, even if that isn’t really what the book is trying to say. (I hope that makes sense, lol).
Besides the minor deductions, this was a really enjoyable read. I always wanted to know what would happen next & I kept being surprised up until the very end. Unreliable narrator is done very, very well & we already know from the beginning that “None of This is True”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Cursing, Pedophilia, Torture, Excrement, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic