Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer

9 reviews

moonlightreads007's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

This is such a dark yet heartwarming, memorable read. Even though the struggles that the characters are facing are exceptionally difficult, they eventually learn that the best way to overcome this is to seek support and to share their true thoughts and feelings with others. With Rev it's very obvious that he experienced child abuse and that the demons from the past are still haunting him, whereas with Emma, the emotional abuse she experiences is much more subtle and insidious - some people may think they have your best interests in mind, when really all they are doing is projecting their unrealistic expectations onto you. Furthermore, this book highlights how women are often harassed and mistreated in male-dominated spaces (in this case, the video game industry), as well as the threats that exist in cyberspace and how important it is to stay safe online by setting boundaries and sticking to them.
I also feel like Rev and Emma's relationship was portrayed in a very realistic way, which I find is generally quite uncommon in media and books - I felt like I was watching a real, imperfect human relationship unfold and develop.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and I love how it emphasizes the power of human connection to encourage healing, personal growth and development. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys slow-burn romance books; however, I would also recommend checking out the content warnings for this one as the story can get very dark at times. Still, it's definitely a 5/5 read for me!
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locust1266's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.5

This book was so good 😭. I love rev . I read this book for the bromance and I'm so happy i didn't have to read about Juliet and her friend grp . I finished this book so fast. I liked Emma alot more than juliet and she was flawed too . Her character made a lot more sense. I felt so sorry for Mathew. Rev and Emma had a lot more chemistry than Dec and juliet
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psliz's review

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

3.5

had so much potential but it tried to tackle too many things that it felt underdeveloped
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lyla_wicks's review

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emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

i really loved rev’s character and felt so bad for what he went through, however i could not stand emma. she was so whiny and it felt like she victimised herself in every situation, even though she was the one being horrible to her best friend. despite this, their relationship was quite cute (albeit a bit cringe) and i loved the family dynamic between rev, his parents, and his foster brother.
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perished's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

4.5 stars. 5 if emma hadn’t been such a pain in the ass most of the book.
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rearic's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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nya_r's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you don’t like YA books, read this. That may sound strange but this is very different from your typical YA book. It’s not cheesy and handles very heavy topics really well. I absolutely love Rev Fletcher. I liked him a lot in Letters to the Lost (the first book to this companion novel) but I honestly started reading this book to see more of Juliet and Declan. HOWEVER, I was reading it for Rev by chapter two. I just want to hug him and protect him. He’s honestly my favorite boy character ever. He was the sweetest. I cried so many times during this book. There were happy tears and sad tears and angry tears and frustrated tears… it was a mess haha. Please look up trigger warnings, but if you read it, you’ll love it. 
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cranereader's review against another edition

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

3.5

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spearly's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

I glance over at Rev. Every time I’m with him, I want to stare. Some of that is because he keeps so much hidden. All I ever see is the edge of his jaw, the sculpted arch of his lips, the line of his nose. His eyes, always in shadow.

I think of gaming, where I’m in control and no one sees the real me. I wonder if the computer is my version of the hoodie.


More Than We Can Tell follows Rev, Declan's best friend from Letters to the Lost, and Emma, a shy gamer girl who keeps running into Rev behind their local church. It delves into Rev's traumatic past that was hinted at in book 1 (and boy, does Kemmerer go there!), as well as Emma's experiences being a girl in the male-dominated field of video games.

This book was intense. I was so curious about Rev after reading Declan and Juliet's story, and safe to say, I was not disappointed. He is such an incredibly nuanced character. Usually I am not a fan of books with too much God-iness, too many religious themes and whatnot, but it made complete sense with Rev's character. It helped my understand him and his history with his abusive father. My heart broke for him.

And Emma! Obviously, she makes some mistakes. But she's a teenager going through something very similar to my own teenage experience, so I understood her motivations. And she was the perfect person to bring Rev out of his shell. I loved their chapters together, and the love story was even a bit more satisfying than D and J since we actually get a bit more detail with the romance. 

The Declan and Juliet cameos were perfection. We obviously saw more of D, considering he's Rev's best friend, and he's just as wonderful as I remember. 

I wouldn't be opposed to another companion novel featuring Cait (Emma's best friend). Brigid? What do you say?

Overall, a heart wrenching romance that delves even more into themes of grief, of trauma, and family.

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