Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass

12 reviews

sssssoup's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

This is a very important book, but it’s definitely not for everyone. It handles some very heavy subject matter, and I would highly recommend you know what you’re getting into before you start reading (the author did include content warnings at the front of the book though).

That said, I really did love reading this book. I was on the edge of my seat from beginning to end, I couldn’t put it down. The way it’s written is very engaging, and I was dying to find out what happened next. The characters also feel very realistic and I thought the author struck a good balance with how they all reacted to the incredibly stressful and traumatizing situations. 

While this is definitely a very dark story with some very chilling elements, it’s hopeful as well. It’s ultimately about breaking the cycle of abuse and trauma and making sure that bad things don’t happen to more people in the future. As a queer person myself, I found it really interesting how the author managed to balance queer joy and queer pain. This book will stick with me, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Outing, Sexism, Sexual content, and Misogyny

Minor: Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Transphobia, Biphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

olivia9024's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-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

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Violence

bloodyvalentine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Suicide and Child abuse

Minor: Transphobia

ladylaurenexplorer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

This was so gut wrenching! I was sucked into the plots, it was so good. Connor had a very strong presence he and you were just rooting for him to make it. This plot was so interconnected and mysterious with so many twists and turns. I can admit got very Hollywood at times but I didn’t mind it in the grand scheme of things. You will become very uncomfortable and I cried. This is a surviving story about a conversion camp!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Gun violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

cheesepuppy's review against another edition

dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I swear on my life I did not know I was getting into a conversion camp story. I went to tell my spouse that this story was not what I prepared to read and started to read them the description. I quickly found I had just failed to read the description.

All that aside, this book was amazing!!! So well written. I can’t believe the majority of the story one happened over the span of a couple days. Would definitely recommend this one. Read the content warnings first though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

alyshkalia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Minor: Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicide attempt, and Islamophobia

lycanhood's review against another edition

Too YA leaning for me. The pacing was super frustrating, and I just wasn't into what was happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

jeskota's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, and Suicide

postal_kat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual content and Transphobia

murder

elissareadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Homophobia, Suicide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Biphobia and Islamophobia

This is a book about a conversion therapy camp. Be aware of the triggers but know that ultimately, queer people win in the end.