Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

La chica salvaje by Delia Owens

105 reviews

creationwing's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

The story was fine, and the descriptions of nature were quiet good. I found it could be verbose at times, and, as others have pointed out, the dialogue was wasn't the strongest. While I liked the characters like Jumpin and such, the author builds tension only to accidentally deflate it too quickly and too soon. I have mixed feelings about this book. I got emotional at times, but it was lacking something that made the transition between the two (eventually coinciding) timelines choppy. The time jump in the last few chapters felt especially abrupt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Cursing, Hate crime, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Blood, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Animal death

Minor: Addiction, Medical content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, War, Mental illness, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Drug use, Infertility, Sexual harassment, and Self harm

Graphic depictions of domestic violence, including against children.

A (frankly unnecessary) scene involving racist hate crime and slurs.

First period Coercion of sex / dubious consent / wear her down Some injuries are described quite graphically, more than expected, at least Implied painful sexual experiences. Attempted sexual assault.

modrinkscoffee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent and Racism

boulter1089's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Murder, Addiction, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Racial slurs, and Racism

clemrain's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective relaxing 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? No

4.25

This book is basically to kill a mockingbird? 

When setting foot in a novel that is sung to high praises, it’s rare to come out agreeing. Where the Crawdads Sing lives up to its praise. 

I always find myself back to mystery as a genre. Though I wouldn’t say I have a huge library of them digested, I have read a fair few. This novel is nothing I’ve read before and maybe that’s why it’s so brilliant.

The writing is a bit slow in the beginning. I think the author really tried to ramp up the suspense by giving us a past and a present simultaneously. Though I enjoyed the slowness of Kya’s life, it was a difficult read because it was just so sad.

I liked that this story follow Kya’s life. It felt like a story about Kya’s life and her loneliness. The way she resonated with nature and flourished in it. She’s a trooper. Trampled over and resilient for it. Like the ground she walked barefoot on. The murder trial is something that she experienced and then we followed her life after it too. Good, interesting approach to a murder mystery.

We read the shaping of Kya and it felt so satisfying to have an in on her reason to kill. The perfect crime in the nature by the girl of nature. Satisfying.

All the side characters were entertaining and added so much to the plot. None of them felt out of place, unnecessary or boring.

Great writing. I like the pacing. The intertwining of poetry. I don’t think the past and present of Kya and the murder melded super efficiently. I think the chapters could’ve transitioned  smoother. 

The court scenes were intense. I felt like a ping pong ball following each and every evidence and rebuttal. I didn’t know who to believe. The tension building kept me on edge. I couldn’t put the book down to sleep. 

I was convinced it was Tate. And I think the author knew readers would find themselves there after Tate gave Kya the hat. And to sneakily put in the police getting Tate was a good way to pull the readers leg. Though the scene of Tate’s father dying and it resulting in Tate and Kya getting back together was disappointing. It read like killing off a character to progress the story.

Amazing ending.

I really thought it was an accident by the end of it, but to discover the truth through a poem was excellent.

Edit: I was shocked to find out after finishing this book there are accusations of the author being racist. Which was shocking considering the contents of this book. What a world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Grief, Hate crime, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Grief, Alcoholism, Classism, Racial slurs, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, War, Infidelity, Infertility, and Bullying

magda_ocaranza's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I read it in one sitting, it left me wanting more

i wanted a happy ending and it was but at the same time it felt like she deserved more like so much pain shoul  be balanced with glorious amounts of happiness

, ended up with a connection to kya and a need to defend her relating to her lack of trust and empathizing with her need for other people but at the same time her fear of attachment and love, it's a deeply emotional book and it strucks you, leaves you with the emotions raw and deep 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Rape

Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, Classism, Grief, and Addiction

em_gauts's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Racism, Abandonment, Classism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Car accident, Infertility, Bullying, Death, and Infidelity

jennay's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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? N/A

3.5

The book was well read/written, so it was nice to listen to the journey... but I wasn't impressed with the ending... 

the ending was a bit weak and predictable, was hoping for more of a twist

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Racism, Sexism, Addiction, Classism, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

archer3's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad 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

This book absolutely tore at my heart strings. The way Owens conveyed deep abandonment issues and trauma, along with the art of nature and experience of blossoming into womanhood, was beautiful. There were moments that seemed a bit cliche and corny, and

the age gap between Tate and Kya rubbed me the wrong way at the start of their relationship

. There were also a few parts that seemed a bit skipped over or unfinished, such as

when Kya learned about Chase's engagement. I feel like that was moved away from very quickly and I would've like to know what exactly happened between them when she found out

. But, overall, the book was well written and I personally enjoyed the ending. It's very much a

"here's your happy ending"

kind of book, but that's what I was in the mood for when I read it so I had no problem with that. I thought it was wrapped up very well, though the last few pages were very fast-paced.

I think the most emotional moment for me was Mabel embracing Kya after Jumpin' died. The parental relationship she grew with them was my favorite relationship in the whole book. I also appreciated the glimpse into Tate's regret surrounding his dad, and the fact that Owens addressed he was kind of obsessed with Kya. Their relationship was very cute though, and I loved that they ended up together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Grief, Murder, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, and Racism

andrea35's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Rape, Addiction, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

cdt96's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

Fantastic book, the only issue is how the black characters have been portrayed as stereotypical archetypes. This added with the controversy surrounding the author makes it lose some score for me. Ultimately though, the book is good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Rape, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Bullying, Classism, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Religious bigotry