Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Places I've Cried in Public

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Places I've Cried in Public by Holly Bourne

71 reviews

lyla_wicks's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

i thought that this book was a very important and necessary read, and it battled many issues that are so prevalent in many people’s lives. it acts as a lesson for many young people about not only navigating teen life but dealing with so many serious topics. i did however find it a bit boring at some parts and didn’t find the characters to be particularly likeable.

Content Warnings

eilimeee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Spoilers included

I have many thoughts about this book. I will say I only started getting a little bit interested at about 80% of the book.
Reese is so obviously an abuser, a very toxic man who did many bad things to Amelie and she got through it yes. But at the same time, I never found Amelie loveable. Even before Reese manipulated her. Many things she does just seem so stupid to me and ig a part of it is because I don’t know how much of an influence such a toxic person/relationship has on you but also idk. Like how she depends on Alfie to make her feel better? Even after she really hurt him? She didn’t deserve what she got of course im not victim blaming here but she still hurt him so much. Just by getting into a relationship with Reese when he didn’t have power over her yet. This was her own free will at that time. Also she keeps saying that she has no friends and that part is mainly her fault I would say. She doesn’t listen to Hannah who knows him and tells her that he’s not a good guy, and then she lets him talk about her in a bad manner, and then she spends all her time with him completely forgetting that they are friends? Idk that didn’t sit right with me.
Also, I know it’s literally in the title but the fact that she’s crying like 50% of the book annoyed me.
The part about her being raped broke my heart into a million pieces. And the way Reese does it and how it’s written taht was devastating I will admit.
But overall I didn’t really enjoy the book as I just couldn’t stand the main character and her actions that made her look very selfish (when she wasn’t manipulated into doing it)

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leonormsousa's review

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dark emotional inspiring sad 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? Yes

4.5

TRIGGER WARNINGS

emotional abuse, gaslighting, sexism, sexual assault, rape, toxic relationship, mental illness, panic attacks/disorders, body shaming, infidelity

REPRESENTATION

none

REVIEW

Have you ever heard about stories of domestic violence or violence in relationships and thought “how did it get to this point? how did the victim not put a stop to the abuse?”? If you did, then I would definitely recommend The Places I’ve Cried in Public. It can give you the answer you’re looking for, as it is not a cute YA romance as it may seem, but a strong and hard story of abuse.

Honestly, this book has everything you might want in a (YA) book. The characters are very well built and feel real. The plot keeps you engaged and draws you in so well, that it feels like you’re inside Amelie’s skin so much that you almost fall a bit in love with Reese. And sometimes you’re yelling “please don’t do that” but at the same time you can understand everything she does. The book is also very well written, with the intercalation of present Amelie and past Amelie being *chef’s kiss * .

But maybe what I like the most about this book is that it’s not just a good book. It’s a book that has an important message and that’s targeted at an audience that NEEDS to read this message. It’s a book that matters! And books that matter always grab my little heart.

There’s not much more to say, except “go read this book”! Even if you don’t like YA, I think you might enjoy this as it is so far from your typical YA book. I myself was already expecting to be disappointed since my expectations for this were quite high but I was pleasantly surprised: I was not expecting such a strong book.

Lastly, I would like to offer another recommendation to the ones of you who want to read further on this topic. I’ve read “Into the Darkest Corner” by Elizabeth Haynes a few years ago and it’s still to this day, one of the books that I think about from time to time. It’s an adult book even heavier that “The Places I’ve Cried in Public”, as it tells with more detail not only emotional abuse but especially physical abuse, and also the consequences that being in an abusive relationship can have on years to come.

Content Warnings

squishymini's review

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

Content Warnings

toscareads's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

The novel is about a girl, Amelie, who was in an abusive relationship with a boy, Reese. The book switches tenses to detail events as they happened in the relationship, and then to Amelie looking back on those experiences, trying to understand why what he did was abusive.

It’s a super easy read, but encompasses such an important topic. I think Bourne did a great job of not making a story about a rather heavy topic too difficult to read. It allows a younger audience to also understand that a relationship like the one detailed in the book is abusive, and it spreads awareness, but simultaneously makes it clear that that is not the end. There is hope.

I also think that in a lot of fantasy stories, or even romance novels, unhealthy relationships can sometimes be glamorised; the thrill of the chase, saying one thing and then doing another, being hateful to one another one minute and then kissing the next, etc. I think it’s good that there are also books out there that discuss that maybe ‘excitement’ isn’t always favourable over ‘safety’ when it comes to love.

Content Warnings