Reviews tagging 'Incest'

The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir

48 reviews

faizoo's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Rape, and Grief

thislibrarylife's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I heard about it on a podcast, and the intersection of reality shows + fundamentalism + scandal is all my interest points. Recommend for anyone who enjoys those realms, or who like rotating perspectives. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

duranceau22ced's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Outing

befreckledbookworm's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I ended up really liking this! You do end up rooting for Essie, and watching her navigate the situation she’s found herself in is very interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

thatsssorachael's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

WOWOWOWOWOW

If every book was like this, I would never DNF anything. In fact, dare I say, this book is the reason I DNF lacklustre books. I loved The Book of Essie. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn close. This book got me hooked pretty much immediately, and didn't unhook me until the very last line. If I could have read this in one sitting, I probably would have. 

The characters were all realistic and well rounded. People had motivations for behaving the way they did. Rourke and Essie were really powerful characters, and had a lot of depth to them. Maybe they didn't behave perfectly or rationally, but they behaved realistically. I give the author a lot of credit for that. 

The ending was a good one. It wasn't totally out of left field, I had pretty much figured it out by a quarter of the way in. It was done so well though, I didn't give one damn that it was "predicatable" at all. I expected this book to lean more into the abortion argument, but instead it leaned into women's rights and bodily autonomy. I really enjoyed it. 

Highly recommend for anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Incest and Rape

otherworlds's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• 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: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Torture, and Excrement

Minor: Alcoholism

lauren_the_bookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

This book was great! It follows Essie who is a member of the Hicks family, a Christian family who have a reality show about their life. When things start to go wrong, the story shows how Essie and her mother manipulate the situation to suit their own lives. I though the story was very believable and was told in a way that you believed you could be reading a memoir. Often I found myself feeling sorry for different characters for different reasons and then hating them in the next second. The secondary story of Liberty was also a great addition. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault

lexa's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Great story, heavy and heartbreaking at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia and Incest