Reviews tagging 'Torture'

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen

192 reviews

fink1129's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Vomit, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Slavery, Mental illness, Murder, and Bullying

yojimbo96's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

2.5

Those girls went through so much but the book should focus less on the traumatic events the girls suffered. At times it takes the descriptions past what is just retelling events and to a kind of macabre fascination with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Torture

laciejanelle94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, and Torture

riverass's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

4.0

this is definitely nauseating and very very shocking and just crazy in general. and the fact it’s real is crazy, but i still have so many unanswered questions but overall really enjoyed this book just don’t read if you don’t like choppy books as it’s almost like mini chapters in chapters idk how to explain it, but i quite enjoyed how it was structured and the pacing though it was a lot of graphic stuff so watch out 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, and Cursing

Moderate: Homophobia

carax561's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

kamrynkoble's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.5

This was the best true crime nonfiction I’ve read so far. I flew through it.

I know this is a personal preference, but I liked that this focused on an active narration and witness/victim perception. I prefer this style to true crime that’s mainly comprised of court docs, police records, and criminals’ journals. This still summarized the police and court case, but it’s not the focus. It was organized well, wonderfully paced, and struck the right balance of being thorough without being laborious to read. 

Some of the other reviewers commented that this was too much “what” and not enough “why.” I, for one, prefer not to have authors inject their own personal opinions and speculations. I appreciated the afterword which spoke more to psychology, and a bit more analysis of Shelly specially would’ve been interesting. But for someone who reads a lot of true crime, I liked the author’s “position” in telling the narrative—telling, without injecting himself. 

It’s so evident that the three children of the abuser were highly involved in this project. I was invested in these girls, and had real emotional reactions to what they and the other victims faced. 

This includes heavy trigger warnings for abuse/torture of all kind against adults and children. If you’re sensitive to these elements, I’d recommend checking out a more thorough warning. 

If you’re looking for a riveting and perfectly executed true crime book, I recommend this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder, Death, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Blood

gellyreads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

I feel like I should probably give this 5 stars because I devoured it. But, it just felt like something was missing. I'm not sure. Although, this is the best true crime book I've read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Child death, Torture, Murder, Violence, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Body shaming, Slavery, Cursing, Confinement, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Blood

emilyrosebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

As far as true crime goes, this is fast paced, fascinating, and like watching a train wreck happen. I apparently don't have the stomach for true crime, at least now when it comes to child abuse, because I thought this was horrific. I am giving it 5 stars because as far as true crime goes it is a fantastic book, but you better have a strong stomach to get through the prolonged sadistic torture Shelly Knotek dispenses on her many victims. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Child death

mariah9616's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Torture

professormac's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence