Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

9 reviews

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

A beautifully heartbreaking story. The writing was just exquisite, i could easily picture every scene and character with how poetically they were written. I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to watch the movie and compare them

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual assault

akaur007's review

dark emotional sad medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

jmschnepp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

White Oleander was a difficult book to get through. I'm so glad that I chose to listen to it as an audiobook. I borrowed it from a library and it took the entire two weeks to finish it.

White Oleander is the story of Ingrid Magnussen and her daughter, Astrid. The story is told from Astrid's perspective and extends from about her 12th birthday until she turns 20. 

Ingrid is approached repeatedly by a man named Barry. Originally, Ingrid is dismissive of Barry and Astrid is awed by her mother's strength ignore him. Then her mother give in and begins a relationship with Barry, which ends when he starts dating a younger woman.

Ingrid allows hatred to grow within her leading her to poison Barry. She goes to jail, and Astrid goes into the foster care system. The story follows her placements until she ages out of the system. The main focus on the book is Astrid's relationship with her mother and becoming an adult on her own terms without her mother's influence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Death, and Addiction

hannahleila's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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: Murder, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide, and Sexual violence

possiblymaybe's review against another edition

sad

• Loveable characters? No

the beginning of this novel raised my hopes, i was really expecting a great read. then the story continued and was just irritating. if it was edited to half the length and actually given a decent development and ending to the story, it would be a good book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, and Gaslighting

gabriellamichalek's review

challenging inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

holly_mc's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder, Racial slurs, and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity

avispa_nightriver's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child abuse and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

ohhthehorrors's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Murder, and Suicide