Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Ophelia Girls by Jane Healey

6 reviews

ellenigrace's review against another edition

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Cancer, Suicide, and Medical trauma

bootrat's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Death, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Suicide

bek_p87's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I couldn't quite pin down why exactly this book was set in 1973/1997, and the inexplicability and lack of necessity of that affected my enjoyment of the story. However, if that were my only qualm, I'd probably have been able to push it aside - unfortunately, it was not. There were so many loose endings that weren't fleshed out, new plot points being added in place of old ones being explained, not to mention (although I guess I'm about to) some truly wild and disastrous decisions by mother and daughter alike. I really wanted to like this, but it was only okay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cancer, War, Death, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent

gen_wolfhailstorm's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The Details:
Narrated by Alix Dunmore
Unabridged

This was haunting and unexpectedly ... sensual... I don't know if that's the right word, exactly, but I wasn't expecting how much I'd be taken in with the beauty of the water and dense heat of summer compared to the innocent exploration of girlhood and how nostalgic that felt for me. Yet, in contrast, how this sweet and pure theme was manipulated in the present scenes and used to the advantage of an older and trusted character. It was uncomfortable but I couldn't stop reading.

In tone, this kind of gave me the Paper Palace vibes, and that makes me want to revisit that title because I had previously dnf'd it.

I loved how haunting the time period and season felt, which isn't a word I would usually use to describe summer and the 70s at all, but there was this whole heavy atmosphere that was rich in melancholy and the gothic and although it wasn't a thriller, there was such a dense layer of suspense and tension at every turn.

Depending on Maeve or Ruth's perspective, it was interesting how warped the mother or daughter's voice sounded to the perspective. As the reader, it was fascinating to see how the other viewed the others actions, justified their own, etc.

I feel like the fall out happened a bit too close to the end. I wanted the fall out to happen sooner so we could see more of the direct consequences span out, but I enjoyed that we got to see more long term scenarios, which felt like more closure than I was expecting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Suicide attempt

cole_louise's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, and Cancer

Moderate: Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, War, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Lesbophobia

rcsreads's review

dark medium-paced

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

1.5

A large part of this is just paedophile porn. There's no need for the inappropriate relationship to be gone into with so much detail. 
The mother's side of the story would have been enough although it has some unpleasant, outdated and homophobic opinions expressed. The daughters story is actively disgusting and romanticised paedophilia. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Outing