Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

37 reviews

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

Fun and fast-paced retelling of Jane Eyre. Good beach read or palate cleanser for heavier novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Murder, Vomit, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Violence, Alcoholism, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, and Mental illness

bryelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

This book is so good I picked it up and finished it in one day. The suspense is just enough that you have to know what is going to happen next. 

Our main character, “Jane” is a person who grew up in the foster system and has had to be resourceful. We meet her when she is walking dogs for rich people and taking things that would go unnoticed. 

One day she bumps into Eddie. And they hit it off. He ends up buying a dog to have her walk it. Jane finds out his is a widower and starts to think of a plan to get near him. They go on a date and things go from there. 

We find out more about Eddie’s wife going missing. Not everything adds up. Jane starts to try to get more information out of people around her. 

Eddie’s wife is alive in the panic room hidden upstairs. But she is the one who planned to kill her friend. Eddie discovered it and decided to lock her away in the panic room.

When Jane finds her they over take Eddie. But Jane quickly realizes she is not a good guy in all this either. Eddie locked away in the panic room sets the house on fire.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Classism, Toxic friendship, Murder, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

frantically's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

You already know I'm all for fucked up rich people doing fucked up things but Mr. Rochester did not need a redemption arc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity and Child abuse

puddleshoes's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

mkbee774's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

little_water_droplet's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This went everywhere I didn't think it'd go. The author does seemingly forget and then remember their dog throughout the book. I picked this up without reading the synopsis or anything about it. The title just sounded interesting.  The end is satisfying but also the exact opposite if you like all plotlines to be all wrapped up. The main character is unlikeable yet endearing. Every character in this book is like that, though. It's 4 am now, so I would like to sleep.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Minor: Child abuse, Stalking, and Death of parent

bash5617'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcoholism, Cursing, Grief, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Mental illness

navayiota's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A really enjoyable and engaging read! I loved all the plot twists and secrets, and the way the characters interacted and thought. Maybe I liked it cause it was so obviously inspired by Jane Eyre, one of my favourite books ever, although I didn't notice the similarities at first. I wish we could have learned a little more about Eddie and Jane's pasts, but I was really satisfied with the amount of backstory Bee got. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Minor: Car accident, Grief, and Medical content

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Murder, Confinement, and Alcoholism

Minor: Toxic relationship and Child abuse

This book gave me more Rebecca vibes than Jane Eyre, and I kind of wonder if I would’ve enjoyed this one more if I didn’t know this was supposed to be a Jane Eyre retelling, because I kept comparing the two. While it was certainly gripping, I didn’t have any “wowee” moments. If you like unreliable narrators, multiple povs, and gothic fiction-inspired stories, then this is for you!

dez_blair's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Confinement

Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Child abuse