Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

19 reviews

bocco's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Self harm, Alcohol, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual content

arlingtonchamberofgay's review

dark emotional sad fast-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

4.75

In Yes, Daddy, Jonah dances the line between rags and riches, climbing the ladder of wealth the only way that many of us working class queers can: through our bodies. Parks-Ramage does a brilliant job conveying just how quickly survivors start reasoning away the abuse in an effort to stay sane and hold on to their life. The constant internal dialogue of “i’m doing this to survive” and “this isn’t fucking normal”, back and forth, over and over again, that damaging spiral of mental turmoil that just chips away at your mental health. He also explores the way that evangelical christianity is woven into our culture and often follows us long after we’ve left, even sometimes calling us back before falling out again. 
As a trans, queer, sexual assault survivor with religious trauma and a plethora of daddy issues, this book got to me in a way I wasn’t fully expecting. But it brought words to the things that I’ve only ever kept to myself or told few friends. So thank you. Here’s to my fellow survivors. Let’s knock ‘em dead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Homophobia, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Child abuse

lucajgrainger's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Rape, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence

eeefann125's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Homophobia, Drug use, Dementia, Abandonment, Suicide, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Outing, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Pedophilia, Body shaming, and Addiction

arbramirez's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Drug use, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Outing, Self harm, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Trafficking, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit

crushedvelvet's review

Yes, Daddy was an interesting enough (though on the nose) erotic thriller at first. But as I read on, Jonah's character & the exploitative nature of the plot grated on me.

Jonah is a simpering social climber eager to cast off his humble beginnings. So much so that he leaps at the chance to turn his nose up at any & everyone he sees himself in. This would be fine if he was at least interesting. I don't demand likeability from protagonists--least of all in a gothic novel. But before the trauma porn begins, he's just endlessly whiny & has an arguable persecution complex. After, he's a blank slate for the cadre of damn well mustache twirling villains to enact their brutality.

The plot itself is every slanderous accusation thrown at the gay community EVER. If I didn't know the author was gay himself I'd think a homophobe was behind this. It's a torrential downpour of bizarre, graphic rape scenes. Every development feels like it's there for shock value and nothing more. Just to put readers through an unearned emotional wringer.

I wish I never read this. Take every content warning very seriously. Each one goes in the cruelest, most cartoonishly repulsive direction possible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Incest and Gaslighting

aely's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was extremely depressing. Jonah simply wanted to have a roof over his hand, and what happened to him was truly awful to read.

Parks-Ramage managed to write realistic characters who go through SO much trauma, with a bittersweet ending that left me feeling… complicated.

My only critique would be that the book felt so depressing and hopeless that at times it was very hard to return to the story.

Other than that, the book is a grim cautionary tale about abusive relationships and sexual assault. It was very emotional and well written. I hope that Jonah is able to live happily after the books ends. That is all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Death, Murder, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Blood, Trafficking, Dementia, and Abortion

veggitorian's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Sexual violence

bells_shelves's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

The first half of this book was absolutely incredible. I read the first two hundred pages in one sitting. However, after the trial, a lot of the plot began to grow unbelievable and unconvincing. Some things that happened were outside of one’s character traits, or just didn’t make sense, and that pulled me out of the story. I still enjoyed it, and I think a lot of the themes and overall messages discussed in the Q&A session are especially important in reading this book, especially when it comes to understanding trauma and survivorship. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Torture, Trafficking, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

typewriterworries's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Extremely dark book and often felt like it was dark just to be, well, dark. 

I was intrigued by the concept of a suspenseful thriller that centered around the lifestyle of a young man who's trying his best to live the luxurious, coquettish lifestyle he pictured himself having. In theory, it had so much promise. 

At the start, the book had my attention. I was interested in learning more about the relationship between Jonah and the famed playwright, Richard. There's something about Richard that doesn't seem quite right and it doesn't take long for both Jonah and the reader to realize this. We're soon taken through a tale of trauma, deception and tragedy. 

While the book is gripping and I found myself breezing through it; the amount of just overtly dark themes and dark scenes became too much. At some point I found myself outright skipping through some of the darker passages because it wasn't adding anything to the story. Every time the book provided some type of hopeful progression, it was undercut by something dark and sinister. 

I think the author has a knack for writing a character you want to learn more about and I hope that he does that with future work but has much less misery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse