Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Furies, by Katie Lowe

5 reviews

chonkooch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

While this was very well written and thoroughly enjoyable I did have several issues with it. The descriptive writing is gorgeous and strangely homoerotic female friendships are very much my jam. I also was a big fan of the horror elements, delicious.

However at certain crucial points the writing style made it difficult to tell what was actually going on: for example,

Spoiler

when the dean was dying i was exceedingly confused

and also

Spoiler

when robin died i had to flip back and forth a few times because i didn't understand.

i'm not 100% that a boarding school was the right setting for this? the school element did feel a little underused and the segments with annabel giving speeches were definitely the weakest parts of the book. despite the heavy emphasis i can tell we're supposed to feel on female rage/revenge i actually feel the better parts of the book are the parts that center around the complex relationships between the girls. if it was more character study and a liiiittle bit less witchcraft i think it could've been great. i also think the ending is a little bit of a cop-out. i think the book Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas does a pretty good job of what i wish this book had done- that is, expose how insular and ingrown and fake the obsessive cult-like world of the girls is, and how this religion of girlhood-as-pain is, while very real, ultimately something you have to grow out of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Addiction, Injury/injury detail, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Body shaming, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Sexism, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Vomit, Misogyny, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Rape

madeleinebay's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Car accident, Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Child death, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Body shaming

cosycourtney's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

Dark witchy academia meets murder mystery; sign me up. Listening to this on audiobook had me wanting to walk for as long as I could each day. The story was compelling, layered, intense, entertaining and infuriating. I couldn’t tell which friend was worse or if anyone deserved my sympathy. The characterization was so strong; we all know the exact archetype from school and when you’re young you want anything to be friends with her but when you’re older you’re glad you weren’t. This book unpacks the obsessive nature of friendship as a teenager and the commitment to questionable friends people uphold about it all. I found it pleasantly infuriating as I wanted to scream sense into everyone but I was hooked on every word. Thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to reading more of Katie Lowe’s books in the future! Please consider content warnings before reading x

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Car accident, and Drug use

jenniferpalmblad's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Violence

alyciareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

Violet is a new student at a boarding school. When she meets and is befriended by three girls in her year, Robin, Alex, and Grace, she unknowingly begins on the ride of her life. 

Trigger warnings for drug use, under-age drinking, sexual themes, violence, and death. 

I didn’t love this, though I really wanted to. The characters aren’t likeable, and frankly I found myself wanting to shake them all. Even the teachers and parents in this book were abhorrent humans. There isn’t one redeemable character in the group. For a character-driven story (there isn’t a lot of plot), the characters felt two-dimensional and fake in a way that had me rolling my eyes when I should have been feeling tension or suspense. It wasn’t horrible, but I don’t recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness