Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Little Sister by Gytha Lodge

6 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

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

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

jasmine256's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Death of parent, Body shaming, and Bullying

kendra_sonogal's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body shaming and Death of parent

jodunn_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

2.0

I was fortunate enough to be given an arc of Little Sister in exchange for a review!

This book opens with a girl, Keely, coming out of the woods covered in blood. She mentions that her sister, Nina, is missing, and Keely will eventually disclose her location. A team of detectives race to find Nina before it’s too late. 

I went into this book absolutely loving the premise. I really enjoy thrillers that are based on a simple, nail-biting idea that keeps you guessing until the end. 

Ultimately, I found a lot of the end twists slightly unbelievable. I also found it strange that the police seemed relatively comfortable letting a young girl play with them while her sister is seemingly injured or dead. 

Keely ends up relaying a very horrifying story of systemic abuse at the hands of many men and the foster care system, and you spend the entire book guessing whether this is actually the truth or not. I think that the narrative shines a light on how the system does uphold the abuse of children in many cases. 

However, I had trouble following Keely’s and Nina’s characterization.

especially after Keely and Nina essentially switch roles in the end

There are a lot of characters in this story, and I didn’t really feel like any of them got enough attention. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, and Body shaming

Moderate: Bullying and Death of parent