Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky

5 reviews

readingpicnic's review

reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Interesting to see an unreliable narrator being held accountable for lying or misremembering the story. This was a very sad story filled with guilt and grief over the accidental death of a child when the two girls were four years old, which she never forgave herself for, so it was a little difficult to get through. The writing was very good though: "After they climbed out, clean again, her mother sprinkled talcum powder on the girl's body with such rich abundance that she felt like a special dessert." 
It was sad how doomed all the sapphic longings felt in this book, especially between Florence and Ruby, who were especially devastating in their inability to put a concrete name to their queer longing. The imagery of Florence unfolding and refolding her letter from Ruby for years made me physically ill. The story was a little disorienting at times when I would learn that a whole passage I had read never actually happened and was just imagined by Margaret. I would say that this book could fit into the weird girlhood genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

belovedb33's review

emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Child death, Body horror, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Self harm, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Blood, Abandonment, Child abuse, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Grief, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Fatphobia

paperknotbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Self harm, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

lyla's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-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

A really fresh and clever narrative structure - the epitome of unreliable narrator. I always love a child narrator, because it lays out the moral lessons with greater purity and innocence. A sad portrait of motherhood and family bonds, the book always leaves you wanting more from the characters in the way they behave and treat others. Definitely not a feel good novel, but an interesting premise and hugely reflective.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Death

pomeranian_poltergeist's review

reflective sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Child abuse