Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

7 reviews

frannieman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pregnancy, Self harm, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

planreadrepeat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Anna, a detective specializing in finding missing people, arrives in her hometown to escape a recent, mysterious, tragedy. She reconnects with high school friends and involves herself quickly in a local missing person's case with a history eerily similar to her own. She starts working closely with her friend, Will to investigate all while intertwining her history of childhood, the town, and growing up with her foster parents, Hep and Eden. She also adopts a dog, Cricket. 

It's interesting that the book twists in a real-life missing person case, Polly Klaas, that happened at the same time as the setting of the book in 1993. Sometimes we forget how much more difficult it was to conduct searches and investigations before everything was on the internet and we had cell phones that function as computers. I found the author's note very personal and touching.

There are several content warnings I would give: child abuse, sexual assault, confinement, drug use and overdose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Child death

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Murder, Kidnapping, and Infidelity

Minor: Chronic illness and Mental illness

lynxreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

lmp_2019's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, and Violence

bmignano's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

thrillofthepage's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Stalking

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

I know Paula McLain for her historical fiction novels and was surprised to see that this was a mystery/thriller. Though set in 1993, it still seemed more mystery than history. However, after reading the Author's Note at the end, I realized Ms. McLain had interwoven a real kidnapping case into her story—I just hadn't recognized it as a true story while reading. I think this added a touch of reality that is usually missing from these kinds of books, and I appreciated that.

As for the story itself, it's more of a mystery than a thriller, even though the chapters are short. I suspected two characters for the kidnapper and one of them was correct. The ending reveal did feel a bit rushed to me though. When Anna finds the clue that leads her to the kidnapper, it seems to come out of the blue and it's not something the reader could have picked up on earlier. Also, the mystery of Anna's immediate past, what drove her to Mendocino, felt lacking to me. Yes, it was tragic, but not the kind of detail that needed to be hidden for the whole novel. I think there could have been more insight into Anna's character, and more development, if this knowledge was revealed much earlier in the story. As it is, it was hard to fully understand Anna's motivations, even though the story is written from her perspective, because we were missing this detail from her past.

That being said, I did appreciate the development given to secondary characters, particularly Emily. Her story was heartbreaking, but I loved the subtle strength she grew for the sake of her daughter. Also Cricket the dog was a lovely addition.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Read if you like: nature essays, true crime, haunted heroines. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Confinement and Rape

Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Violence, and Alcoholism