Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

19 reviews

a_dogwalker's review against another edition

3.75

challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence

bishplease3's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark sad slow-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: No

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I was very intrigued by the premise and time period, but this really did not deliver. There is very little time spent at the asylum, which I wanted to learn more about, especially because it was a real place with extremely novel ideas about treatment for its time. I know things were bad for women, but I don’t think I needed that reinforced in such detail and so extensively throughout the book. Even Dr. Story, who is painted as a good and kind man, falls in love with his patient and is then absolutely shocked that she was married. And then marries her. I usually like alternating perspectives, but this jumped around way too much both in time and characters, and it felt disjointed and drawn out while circling around the interesting bits. It was also very predictable, and I kept waiting for a twist or everything to come together, but the ending was unsatisfying and I just continued to feel bad for the characters and also myself for having to endure their misery. I was shocked to see how many awards this won or was nominated for, including a Pulitzer. If you put stock in awards, then give it a go, but otherwise, I’d skip this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault

asaucecoveredsomething's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Set against the backdrop of post-Civil War WV, Night Watch tells the story of a young woman attempting to traverse life with a mentally ill mother, abusive "father" and caring for others as best she can while posing as a nurse at the Weston asylum. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, War

danreedy's review against another edition

2.75

emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Abandonment, War

megan_martha_reads's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War

lydiarox's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War

emileegarrett's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, War

sperkinz's review against another edition

3.25

dark informative mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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It was a fast read and I enjoyed learning something about the asylums of the period. It had a lot of soap opera like twist that you could see coming a mile away. There were several things I just didn’t buy. Why did years go by with papa. Did he have all the guns? And if so how did they sustain food? Couldn’t they have found a way to off him on the way back from town drunk? Why didn’t she acknowledge seeing her husband? Also didn’t buy the total amnesia but otherwise excellent health. Or the total mutism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault

kayhardt's review against another edition

3.25

emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Child death

kwuestney's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 15%

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Extremely explicit rape scenes felt gratuitous. Super hard to stomach and didn’t feel like anything in the rest of the story was payout enough to endure them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Forced institutionalization

Also read spoilers and I don’t care for romanticizing clinician-patient love stories.