Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

154 reviews

scrambledpegs's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Addiction, and Domestic abuse

dr_amy_k_west's review against another edition

lighthearted

• 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

3.0

This was an accidental read; not into sports-related romance, but it was on Libby's available now shelf. Wanted to like the characters more than I did. It was a longer read than expected and despite the issues I had with the story I still wanted to read to the end to see how the author was going to resolve the issues with character development, especially regarding the MMC. The first 1/3-1/2 of the book has Vanessa (FMC) engaging in what I see as overly apologetic and appeasing behaviors. As the book progresses you come to understand the back story behind her tendencies but there's little-to-no character growth around recognizing these tendencies or the motivations behind them. She lies repeatedly to those she cares about as well as to herself and there's no real acknowledgment or growth in terms of the consequences of her actions/inactions. She takes responsibility for things that aren't hers, blames herself, calls reasonable emotions and behaviors "nagging" or unreasonable, and apologizes for her anger all in the guise of "taking responsibility"; in reality, it's a lot of overcompensating for trauma. The MMC while showing emotional growth later on in the story still gets away with a lot of crappy behavior for much of the book. They don't get together until after she starts working out and loses weight and it's unclear for the majority of the book if the MMC liked her for who she was from the beginning until the book is almost over. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Child abuse, Cursing, Car accident, Bullying, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

lauraelovesbooks's review against another edition

funny reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

The queen of slow burn strikes again. It won’t work for everyone but for me personally it’s everything I look for in a book. A marriage of convenience, grump/sunshine, ‘enemies’ to-friends-to-lovers story 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism and Medical content

garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Bullying, Cursing, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Car accident and Violence

ireadtoescape_'s review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

If you ask me, we could have started this book from about 60% in. Most of what came before was really drawn out! 😩

It was cute, though. I’m choosing not to over-think the other stuff 🙃

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Body shaming, and Alcoholism

michbrito's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug abuse

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

A good old Slow burn romance is my favorite trope, so I was so excited to pick this up, and it did not disappoint. I absolutely adored Vanessa and Aiden’s relationship. Trauma is heavily mentioned in the novel, so be sure to check trigger warnings before reading!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Addiction

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

3.5

This is a grumpy/sunshine, fake marriage, slow burn, sports romance novel. Both of the main characters have childhood trauma and trust issues to work through. I really enjoyed the transformation of Aiden, as he opened up and became more comfortable with Vanessa.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual content, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Sexual harassment, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse

khloereads86's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Car accident

sea_tea_books's review against another edition

challenging hopeful lighthearted sad slow-paced

3.0

First off, the pros:
Happily Ever After. Spicy scenes (eventually). 

And now, the cons:
Such a slow burn; like, too slow. The pacing was odd. It felt like the story was riding at 20mph through a school zone for 90% with a few bumps along the way, then suddenly floored it to two spicy scenes at the very end. The result was a clunky story that abruptly ended just as the story picked up steam. Was this why the author included not only an epilogue but also bonus content at the end, to compensate for the abrupt ending? 

This book should come with trigger warnings due to themes of childhood trauma, parental alcoholism, and domestic violence within toxic families in both main character backstories. 

Not a fan of the main character Vanessa continuously threatening violence against others. And the other main character Aiden being emotionally dysregulated on a daily basis. Let's not normalize these issues by excusing rage and threats as unavoidable consequences of her upbringing, or accepting rudeness and apathy as the norm because he's just a grumpy guy. 

Finally, a small pet peeve (pun intended) of mine is when people claim being a pet owner is the same as or similar to being the parent of a human being. In the About the Author section, Mariana Zapata calls her dogs "her...oversized children" and she wrote "child" when referring to the dog Leo in the story. We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, Mariana. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Abandonment