Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Little Sister by Gytha Lodge

8 reviews

frantically's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Great book that really hooked me, especially in the last half. It's got a bit of a slow start but quickly picks up speed. Just like the detectives on the case, the reader, too, finds themself wondering just what version of the story to believe. For most of the book, it's separated to be one chapter of Keely telling her story and then one regular chapter and that worked surprisingly well for me. Was satisfying to see it all come together in the end. I had my suspicions pretty quickly but didn't see the full picture until it was revealed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Eating disorder

Minor: Stalking, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Incest

haffnernicole87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

mel_j's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Medical content and Addiction

darthsansa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Eating disorder, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Body shaming, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

sleepyeggo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Rape

cokester's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

4.5

Little Sister by Gytha Lodge was a solid detective mystery that veered into a psychological thriller with its delivery.  It’s a gripping start and interesting premise – a teenage girl, Keely, wanders out of the woods covered in blood, smiles, and tells the detective who finds her that it’s her sister, Nina, that he really needs to find.  Keely says she’ll help, but only if they will listen to their story from the beginning.  

 

The reader experiences two narratives, Keely and the detectives, as they race against the clock to solve the mystery and find Nina.  The story traces back to their experience losing their mother and entering the foster system, and as a reader you’re playing catch-up with the detectives as you get your bearings.  It’s also hard to know who to trust or what reality is, adding to the psychological tension and mystery. 

 

Overall this was really well done and a page-turner – I’d recommend it for anyone who likes a detective mystery that isn’t a heavy procedural read, and weaves in an disturbing, emotional journey for the main characters.  It hovered right under 5 stars for me, mainly because one of the clues at the twist was too obvious for me and once I saw it coming, it deflated the tension a bit. 

 

This was #4 in a series, but from what I can tell they are standalone, and I didn’t feel like I was missing anything in the plot or character development for the main detectives. I’m going to check out the others from the author, let me know if you’ve read any of them and have recommendations.  

 

Content warnings: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Body shaming, Disordered eating, Bullying 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Bullying, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

estherb's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

5.0

Not having read any of the earlier DCI Jonah Sheens novels I was a bit worried I wasn’t going to be able to follow the characters in this fourth instalment, but luckily this reads as a standalone novel which I struggled to put down.

The characters are well developed and I must admit my opinions of then sisters changed constantly; they really challenged me - in a good way! Callum too was a great addition to the plot.

I loved the way the narrative switched between interview style in the third person whilst Jonah was interviewing Keeley, to the narrative in the first person when DS Hanson was rewatching the transcripts and videos.

Usually I am good at seeing twists in stories - well not in this case. They totally took me unprepared.

A gritty novel: some parts were a bit hard to read and covered tough subjects. Definitely one I wouldn’t want to miss out on 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Bullying