Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain

17 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.”

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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

forgedopulence's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

La Cachette is for the ghosts.

This book is very much Young Adult, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Overall, it was a great story and held my interest, but I really wanted more depth from basically everything - the magic, lore, relationships, and the final resolution. The sub-plot was very well done, however. I also enjoyed the "full circle" feeling of all lose ends being tied up with such finality. 

Unfortunately, we never got to know most of the supporting characters enough for the main twist to be as impactful as it should have been. I'm glad those two died, and I don't think that was the intention. 

Incest being used as a plot device is also weird for a YA book and everything in me wishes the author had picked a different reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicide and Death of parent

Minor: Incest

leonleoff's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.5

Had me hooked the whole read. The ending was

lackluster. The “incest”plotline was unnecessary and was what made me bump this down from a 4 star. It felt like a cheap last thrill.

Despite its flaws, this was a good read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Incest

calcifersembers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest and Pedophilia

the_first_lines's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Suicide, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

samanthaannecompton's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

at first i gave this four stars. after letting it digest, i realised that i didn’t actually like the story. i liked the moody atmosphere created. the main character was a pushover (but same) and her relationship with elora AND zane was never actually developed. it was all very surface level.

i also hated the incest plot. it was gross and unnecessary. they were raised together since they were kids which makes it unstomach-able

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Incest

taylormoore's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Incest

alyssa_s10's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.25

I read this book for my ABC reading challenge.  I liked the atmosphere of the book. However I feel as if the main character was a bit to naive for my taste. The twist and turns of this book make up for it. 

I had a feeling that Hart new more than he led on, but I could have never guessed that it was the youngest kid. One thing I don't like was how they sympathetic the main character is to the killer. This also reminds me of a true crime case I have read about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Suicide

Minor: Incest and Self harm

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. 

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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

hauntedspace's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Incest