Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain

7 reviews

gracescanlon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Grey, girl, love ya but man are you dumb like 60% of the time.

Dark, twisty, tense, deeply sad and intensely atmospheric — Dark and Shallow Lies is a heavy read, but worthwhile. It knocked the wind out of me completely time and time again. Sain did a wonderful job with the setting; as a Southern girl from a swamp-like area myself, I felt myself choking on the humidity and heat as much as the secrets. 

I especially liked how “full circle” the book was — specifically with uncovering the secrets and lies that poisoned La Cachette and ultimately led to so much death and pain.

Not sure I believe the “sparks” Grey feels when Zale touches her aren’t just his power rather than her body’s natural reaction to him, but he’s sweet, so I’ll allow it.

Also wasn’t a huge fan of the Hart and Elora bit, especially since he seemed so sketchy in a dangerous way throughout the book. HOW is it that almost no other reviews mention that???? There was also no real hint as to their being involved in any way, though that could be attributed to Grey’s being kinda dumb. Also their being together was kinda gross — they’ve lived as siblings for more than half their lives? It’s not like their parents are newly married, which would still have been eh but much better than two kids raised as siblings for like a decade “falling in love.”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Confinement, Incest, Pedophilia, Slavery, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Outing, Abandonment, and Colonisation

bookboxbabe's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

no one speak to me for a bit, i’m not well

this book is beautiful and gut wrenching at the same time. it’s raw and feels like you’re being ripped open and spilt onto the pages. 

i loved the small town dynamics, the mystery that kept me guessing till the very end, and the whiplash of reveals felt like i myself was in the middle of the hurricane 

the summer children will forever be in my heart

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

hollyheartless's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I have very mixed feelings about this book. This is quite fast paced and I was very hooked on finding out what happened. Part of me loves the dark atmosphere and the absolute rollercoaster I was on in trying to solve the mystery I did not trust any of these characters apart from MC Grey. The history of the characters and world building was clearly really thought out and clear while reading. There are some very clever snippets of writing using small visions of text to build a whole scene which I thought was brilliant!! However, I will say I didn’t feel fully satisfied with the ending of the book as a whole in the epilogue, I feel like I have a lot of questions still unanswered. Also there are a lot of triggers with this book, including child death, abuse, alcoholism and brief mentions of self harm. It is a dark and more mature book, one that I would read again but I wouldn’t be in any rush to 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

courtney_1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

elizabethgreads's review against another edition

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

4.0

A spooky and atmospheric read.

The author created a spooky atmospheric book set in a coastal Louisiana small town. The characters are multideminsual, flawed, and real.  The setting feels authentic and is wonderfully described.  Every character as their own secrets which creates a lot of mystery and tension.  The book is a small town suspense book with paranormal elements. This is not a true thriller. If you love psychics and other mystical powers  you should considering giving this book a try. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

powellki's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I enjoyed the premise of this book, I enjoyed the beginning mystery. I wanted to know what had happened to Elora as badly as Grey did. There were a few twists and turns in the book I didn't see coming, especially the last hour of the audiobook. I am very disappointed with the ending because it turned into a very twisted love triangle (that had been hinted at throughout the book), and ends with the unnecessary death of multiple characters. I was also unhappy with the epilogue because it ends ambiguously. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood and Alcohol

cbbyles07's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Minor: Pedophilia

Very descriptive regarding hurricane, hurricane prep (may be triggering for someone that has weather related Phobias)