Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer by Jennifer Jordan, Liza Rodman

12 reviews

_j3ss1ca's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

4.5

The Babysitter shows life in Provincetown MA in the 1906s through a mix of personal memoir and synthesizing a timeline of Tony Costa's life and crimes. There was an astounding amount of casual drug use, alcoholism, and a combination of the two, and the manic energy that cocktail of drugs creates was captured really well by Rodman's descriptions of the adults in her life. It was fully not the intention of the book, but having friends from MA and fond memories of visiting them, the vivid description of Portuguese foods and familiar locations made me smile. The happy memories Liza Rodman shares are intimate and nostalgic. This book is written with stunning detail, showing both the best and the worst the era and location had to offer. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Murder, Suicide, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism, Car accident, and Homophobia

Minor: Incest

foreverinastory's review

challenging informative slow-paced

3.0

This was interesting.

CWs: child abuse/neglect, murder, drug use/abuse, addiction, rape, sexual violence, emotional abuse, sexual assault, parental abandonment, domestic abuse, gore, dismemberment, violence, alcoholism, death, physical abuse, suicide, mental illness, adult/minor relationship, toxic relationship, blood, homophobia, f-slur, misogyny, sexual content. Moderate: animal cruelty, kidnapping, pedophilia, suicidal thoughts, torture, suicide attempt, injury/injury detail, fatphobia, body shaming, self harm, abortion, vomit, excrement.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Self harm, Abortion, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Body shaming, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, and Fatphobia

tarynwanderer's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide

sblake26's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction

taiy's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

4.0

Interesting format and perspective to tell this story. Definitely a dark one all around. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

renee_reads_books's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.75

The Babysitter was part memoir, part true crime story about Liza Rodman's summers in Provincetown as a child. She and her sister, Louisa, were often watched after by other adults working at the local motels or other service industry jobs for the summer, and one of those adults was Tony Costa. Liza adored Tony and loved going on rides to the dump with him because he would frequently stop to buy them popsicles or ice cream, and sometimes he would take them out to his secret garden in the woods so that he could check on things. 

Years later, as an adult, Liza learns that Tony was a serial killer, and that the secret garden where he stopped to "check on things" was actually where he was stashing drugs and burying bodies. 

It was an engaging read and well-researched. One thing that I struggled with was that it felt like perhaps her fondness for Tony was played up a bit for the purposes of the novel. I could be wrong, but in the grand scheme of things, she wasn't with him that much. So while I believe that she enjoyed going for rides in the summer, I'm not sure if she really thought about the summer babysitters much during the school year, although I suppose it's possible. 

The end seemed to drag a bit. It wasn't terrible, but once things sort of wrapped up and the story kept going, it became a little more difficult to stay engaged because I wasn't sure where it was going so close to the end. That's minor and might just be a "me" thing. 

TW that there are a lot of graphic details about what Tony Costa did to the bodies and it might be disturbing for some readers. 

All in all, I would recommend this, especially if you are a fan of true crime. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

saldre's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

sarahasyouwish's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.75

This was an interesting mix of half memoir and half true crime story. We learn of Liza’s rocky upbringing and her abusive mother who would frequently leave her children with any willing person she could find to babysit them. One of the strangers recruited to babysit is Tony Costa, whom Liza remembers fondly until learning years later he was convicted of multiple murders which took place around the time she knew him. The book flips back and forth between Liza’s story and Tony’s as she pieces together his past from the records available to her. It was sad to see how disposable young women were thought of in the 1960s and how the disappearance of several women was barely a blip on anyone’s radar. The book would have benefited from having first-hand information from Costa and his experience-wife, but given the circumstances, I felt like the author did a good job piecing together the story in a way that was intriguing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Drug use

kelligrace's review against another edition

dark

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault