Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land

9 reviews

owlady4's review against another edition

It was too dark, lowkey giving me nightmares, I mean the imagery about her moms serial killing of CHILDREN was way too heavy for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Sexual violence, Child death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Confinement, Torture, Mental illness, Violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

ellieroberts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

alicegriff7's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Death, Drug use, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Rape

sophiemartin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Grief, Alcohol, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Self harm, Mental illness, Rape, Pedophilia, Murder, Body horror, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Forced institutionalization

melsiss14's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Darker than I anticipated due to the nature of the crimes. I should have checked trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

asteri_mou's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

Good Me Bad Me was an incredible dive into the main character's brain and how she dealt with life after turning her serial-killer mother in to the police. I feel as if I was inside the mind of the character the entire time and I loved the exploration about still being attached to her mother emotionally despite her not living with her anymore. 

The book emphasizes the PHYCOLOGICAL in psychological thrillers. I was also intrigued by the relationship between the main character and Mike, her foster dad, throughout the book.

Even though Mike was the psychologist, the main character had him wrapped around her finger.

 

The only "negative" about this book was the pacing. I found the book to be of a medium pace, which slowed down my reading speed, however, because of the nature of the book, it didn't bother me greatly. 

Was the ending predictable??? In a way...yes. However, it didn't take away from the "surprise" of the ending. The way the second to last chapter was written was so...wow!

the whole manipulation of Mike was amazing...and in a way...did the character manipulate us too??

 

I went into the book, thinking it would be 3.5 stars at most, (especially since thrillers aren't always my favorite), but I was really pleased. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Drug use

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

I have had this book on my shelf for years, and I believe I originally heard about this title from BooksandLala.
This story follows Milly, a teenage girl whose mother has kidnapped and murdered several children. Milly has turned her mother in and is staying at her psychologist's home while she awaits trial to testify against her mother. She is the only one who has the concrete, eyewitness testimony to have her mother convicted. Milly is conflicted because she wants to love her mother and protect her, but she knows that her mother did horrible things and needs to be punished. Milly is also concerned because what if she becomes just like her mother, Afterall, she was groomed to be a part of these twisted games.
 

I think this story explores the idea of nature versus nurture in an interesting way. Although Milly's mom is the villain and the one on trial, Milly is not entirely innocent herself. The story really raises the question of whether we can forgive heinous acts if the person "does not know better"? Also, how can we prove that the person "does not know better"? Milly is struggling to come to terms with the fact she did the right thing, and her inner turmoil is impeccably written. I also very much enjoyed how Milly's new "sister" for a moment is seemingly evil, and how Milly reacts to her. Their interactions paint the perfect picture of Milly's state of mind.
Although I think the ending of the book was well done and stayed true to Milly's character, it was not what I wanted to see happen. I wanted more of a redemption arc for her. 

 
Overall, I enjoyed this debut, and I would read more from Ali Land in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Murder, Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Death

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Vomit

rottendollparts's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Self harm, Bullying, Pedophilia, Child death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Drug abuse and Animal death