Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

20 reviews

brianarinaldo's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.75

Very good! A little hard to follow at times, but it’s all brought together beautifully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Incest, Sexual content, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Suicide, and Death of parent

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

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

theyarelex's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Excrement

seastheday's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I’m not really a thriller girly but this was a great book to read as an audiobook. I loved the podcast element, and listening to it made it feel more authentic/interesting. Otherwise, I don’t think it would’ve been as impactful. The entire time we have two unreliable narrators, one is slowly more unreliable than the other. They act as obvious foils to one another. The entire time you question who is to believe and it felt like a swinging pendulum. I would think ahead from context clues then feel jerked off my path of thinking. I liked it as entertainment, I wouldn’t read it again. But as someone currently in a reading slump, it’s helping bring me out of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Excrement

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

suchallie's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.0

This was a quick and easy read, it was easy to get into and it really picked up on the last half of the book. I think the concept and structure are fairly novel and they work here, however I wasn’t a fan of the theme of gaslighting victims of abuse (regardless whether the abuse in the plot was true in the universe or not this isn’t necessarily a narrative we need to be pushing). Also the fact that Walter is deemed as imperfect and not villainous by the end despite being an actual pedophile and just all around creep is pretty nuts. Sorry, but I don’t care if he is a good dad, he’s still a pedophile?? I would have liked a spicier ending as well with Josie. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

davschi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Excrement, and Murder

Minor: Drug use

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

Great read, hooked from the start. Twisty and completely addictive. Was on the edge of my seat! 4.5 stars cause I was a little annoyed at the ending but that makes it a great book! Absolutely loved the acknowledgments at the end too! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

gaymoonreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Excrement

Minor: Drug use and Pandemic/Epidemic

kitaface's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don't know how to feel.

No one in the book is reliable or can be trusted, but it seems to be true that Josie and Walter's relationship began when she was a teenager and he was in his forties. HE IS A PEDOPHILE AND SHE WAS ABUSED. No matter what happened later or if she "manipulated him".

The audiobook has great production though, 5 stars for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent