Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

A estranha Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

10 reviews

mysteriesandhistories's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This was recommended to me in Waterstones and I kind of wish it hadn’t been. Well written and plotted, undoubtedly. But relentlessly disturbing and without a chink of redeeming light. It’s upset me quite a lot actually. Which is a sign of the author’s talent, but not an experience I’d care to repeat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Death, Grief, Pedophilia, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

grimalkin7's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I may need botox after how much frowning I did! "Jesus Christ!" was also invoked quite frequently.

This book kept me engaged because of the constant plot twists and it  keept me guessing. Though odd, Sally became quite a loveable character and I thoroughly enjoyed her growth, but also her bluntness (my favourite quote being "Stop calling me a racist." "Stop being one."). It was heartwarming to see her friendships blossom and I was gutted reading how they all kind of fell apart at the end.

I was really rooting for Peter and was so disappointed when he turned out to be just like his dad, more or less. Hey, a kidnapper with morals is still a kidnapper!

The ending was a bit of a let down for me because I was optimistic it would be a happy one, but I suppose Liz didn't want it to be predictable.

With that said, this was one of the most captivating reads for me in a while. I could hardly put the book down because I just wanted to find out what happened next! Liz did a good job with those cliff hangers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Rape

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Car accident, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Racism

madh2os's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Rape, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Misogyny

ericabailey004's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Murder, Trafficking, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Racism, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Car accident, Sexual content, Torture, and Death

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Confinement

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Grief, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Abandonment, and Murder

bookellys's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’ve seen a lot of hype for this book and I think it’s worth it… mostly.

The book alternates between chapters from Sally’s perspective and Peter’s. Whilst the Sally chapters are in the here and now and offer some great character development, the Peter chapters span 40+ years, proving some great back story. Most chapters are short and snappy and I found myself flying through this book!

Let’s talk about the ending - for how long the book had taken to fill you in on backgrounds and build the characters, it felt a little rushed. I think the last chapter for Peter was the exact right ending though (if you can say that?!) but Sally’s ending was disappointing and I don’t think in line with the Sally we, and the characters in the book, had grown to love.

Also, what’s with the book cover? I don’t feel this represents the book at all! Maybe future editions could consider something more in line with the story (a piano or tatty teddy bear perhaps?) or at least closer to Sally’s actual description in the book.

Overall, I think 4 stars is fair and I would definitely recommend you picking this one up if it’s on your TBR.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Racism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Violence

kirip's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

ciaram12's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Abandonment, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Self harm, and Violence

c_wag2009's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Bullying, Car accident, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness

aoifeprettypurplepolkadots's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, and Sexual assault