Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

76 reviews

sbkennedy's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? No

2.5

While I think this book told a very powerful story on a topic more people should be educated about- I really didn't enjoy it that much. The first half of the book was very compelling, as it slowly became apparent how the story lines of our two main characters were going to intercept. However, by the second half of the book I wasn't enjoying the story at all. Rill's plot line becomes so unbearably sad I almost had to stop reading, and while it was meant to convey the horror of a situation real children were put through, it was almost enough to make me put the book down. Avery's story line is really what bothered me the most. I admired her determination to dig deeper into a potentially scandalous part of her family history, but I couldn't stand her character beyond that. Even after learning so much about her grandmother's past, she was still so blind to her own privilege I couldn't believe it.

When Avery says that she is going to take some time off from working with her father, and only run for congress "on her own merits" I knew she was never going to redeem herself as a character.

Her father is a LITERAL SENATOR that is OBVIOUSLY  going to provide her a massive advantage that she can never get rid of, no matter how much she wants to pretend she can. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism

lmgst30's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault

lucy_shanners's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Dementia, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism and Self harm

badwitch's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

audreads100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault

maddiet425's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Pregnancy

alilbitofmonica's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad 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? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual assault

spaghettireads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I know that people don’t read full captions, so I feel like I want to say off the top that I don’t think that I recommend this! It was a book club selection, and while it did provide a good discussion, I don’t think that any of us really loved this.

The sub-genre of historical fiction that generally features women looking away on the cover is not one that I usually reach for. While I did find the writing in this relatively engaging, and I did want to keep reading it to find out what the twist was at the end, I thought that the book had a lot of issues. Perhaps the fact that a real life historical tragedy has been written with the vibe of a mystery is the problem. As one of my friends pointed out, it felt as though just everything bad possible was happening to the characters.

And while I said that I was waiting for the final details to be revealed at the end, a lot of the book felt very predictable. My book club also talked about how the portrayal of people of colour, and mostly Black people in this story was pretty terrible.

So, as I said I wouldn’t recommend this. Thanks as always to my book club friends for a great discussion 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent

finding_time_to_read's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

emakay's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Dementia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, and Death of parent