Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

26 reviews

nattejones's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

Moderate: Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Murder, Rape, Drug use, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Violence, Medical content, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

emfoster17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Hate crime

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Cursing

Minor: Blood, Bullying, and Addiction

theredqueen444's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, Violence, and Child abuse

just_me_abbey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Death

minkler's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Bullying, Misogyny, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Rape, Ableism, Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

abby_can_read's review

dark 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? It's complicated

2.0

📱
This is a decent book. Not my favorite in the series. There was relationship development between Ellacott and Strike. The plot was hard to follow at times, and I felt it was predictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexism, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Child abuse, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Antisemitism, and Medical content

Minor: Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Rape, and Self harm

gabyisafreeelf'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, and Rape

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, and Violence

Minor: Eating disorder

njlbo1's review

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Child abuse, Murder, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Violence

rnbhargava's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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

4.0

The narrative and mysteries were very engaging once it got going. The nature of online interactions in relation to popular pieces of media is fertile ground for storytelling. That said, the in game chats were a bit of a slog when broken up into 2-3 conversations happening near simultaneous. Yes, I didn’t mind flipping back and forth on pages but it took some adjusting. The characterizations are all really good. Seeing how all these different types of personalities could be prone to certain types of toxic online behavior was entertaining. I will say that one of the storylines is a bit hard to get by given it specifically involves kids. The side cases were good for highlighting the different contractors personalities. I liked that the entire main case was largely about people being manipulated by someone charismatic online. That all said, the book is lengthy and it could have been tightened up 200-300 pages or at least some of the game chat chapters could have been combined or tightened. 

Overall, I enjoyed it. Another good book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Classism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Bullying, Gore, Death, Gaslighting, Torture, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Racism, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Sexism

See all the triggers for the types of grotesque things discussed and done to characters because of the online and in real life sketchiness of people associated with the cases and to a degree with people in the characters’ lives

april_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book. I'm not even sure where to start. First off, I borrowed a copy from my library. Next, it. Is. Long; that being said, after struggling with the few few chapters, I read the majority of the book in three days. It certainly dragged in some places, but on the whole, it kept me guessing and was certainly tense enough that I had to know what was going to happen. (Also, my loan was nearly up, and if I didn't want to wait six months to finish it, I had to rush through it.) It also covered some timely, important topics, which - unfortunately, the people who need the messages most will never see. 

I did not see the twist coming; however, by the time we finally got to the climax, which felt overdue by at least three chapters, it felt a little... anticlimactic? Not that it wasn't super intense; it merely felt like the tension had been stretched too far, so when it came down to it, there was a sense of relief that it had finally arrived, if that makes sense. 

Finally, as much as I enjoy the mysteries, because dang, can JKR really plot them, I'm mostly here for Strike and Robin. I really love them as characters, and I've very much enjoyed the progression of their relationship.  But I genuinely expected them to move beyond the will-they, won't-they? nonsense we've been put through the last three? four? books; I get why they're so slow to move into a relationship, considering everything that's at stake if a relationship between them were to go badly. But it just seems like, considering that their relationship is really the driving force behind these books and how long they are, we should be beyond this point already. And to get to the end of this massive book and have

one failed kiss and separate realizations of feelings that they've been trying to repress feels like a bit of a cop out. Like, there's slow burn, and then there's 'let's see how long we can possibly string this out before everyone gives up out of sheer frustration.' And, unfortunately, this book felt like the latter. What is even more frustrating is that there is so much potential to create drama and conflict after they get into a relationship - they're not going to magically become new people, and I want to see that play out - instead, we're given a baby step forward at the beginning of the book, a massive step backwards, and then a teeny-tiny mini-step forwards at the very end. Because now that Strike is finally, maybe

ready to pursue a relationship with Robin, she's getting ready to go on a date with some other guy, which if it had come at any point during the book, would have been fine. Sure, make Strike jealous! Maybe it's his turn to pine?! (Except, he's clearly liked Robin since book one.) And, yay, now he finally sees her as an equal, so they can pursue a more balanced relationship. (But why has it taken so long??? He's recognized her worth since fairly early on in the series.)  And now we have to wait another year or three before the next one, which leaves me with an overall feeling of not only disappointment with the book but also the feeling of 'did we make any progress?' 

This was long and ranty/tangential (which is perhaps fitting for the book), and while the book did frustrate me, I enjoyed it. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one. However, if by the end of the next book, we still haven't made progress with Robin and Strike, I might call it quits. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Self harm, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Suicide attempt, and Fatphobia