Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

80 reviews

tacodonutnacho's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

eleith's review against another edition

Listened on audiobook and was taken by surprise by the sudden descriptions of CSA. Had to put down for my own health

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

luizamjc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Ok, so I started this book thinking I was not going to like it. The story seemed interesting, but it is a bit complicated when autistic people are represented by a (as far as I know) non-autistic author. And Fern’s descriptions in the beginning seem a bit problematic. But then this changes throughout the book while you figure things out and understand what’s really happening there. I didn’t think the plot was predictable like I’ve seen some people saying. I mean, it was to a certain extent, but the details still surprised me, and even though I had generally figured out what had happened, once I hit like the 200th page I literally could not stop reading cause I needed to know the details and what was going to happen. Fern and Wally are very loveable characters and their love really made me emotional. I loved the ending. However, I do think that it might contain some problematic representation of some mental illnesses that could be harmful to the people who have them. I think the part of Rose’s presumed diagnosis could’ve been left out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Ableism, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Infertility and Vomit

one character who is portrayed as a very bad person and has killed people is said to possibly have borderline personality disorder, which I think might be triggering if you have it

annaka's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

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

2.5

I really struggled with this book as I almost always do when someone writes books regarding mental illness but is not a professional in the field. I believe that the way she portrayed the characters could be harmful to the disorders she claims or alluded that they have. Also the "twist" was entirely predictable from very early on and so there was no interesting moment of reveal or mystery to this book for me. I enjoyed reading a book set in Australia (where I'm currently living) and there was a cute side plot story line I enjoyed but overall I wouldn't recommend picking this book up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Minor: Medical trauma and Death of parent

meggles's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Murder

levelsjerry's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault

nataliebootlah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.0

Told in the alternating perspectives of close-knit fraternal twins, Fern and Rose have gone through everything together. Rose is Fern’s person. Rose took care of Fern when they were children and now, as adults. Rose is the only one who knows how to help Fern when she becomes overwhelmed by loud sounds, bright lights, and overbearing smells due to her sensory processing disorder.  

 

This was a domestic suspense novel through and through. Who doesn’t love a familial drama? I loved Fern’s character, maybe because in typical mainstream books, you don’t often see characters with disabilities portrayed well. It really made the book that much more enjoyable. Representation matters! 

 

Even though it was a slow burn and the twists were a bit predictable, I still wanted to see out the ending. Another good one by Sally Hepworth.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault and Murder

redhothabanero's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

I love an unreliable narrator and could guess where the book was going about halfway through but it's still a really good book. I really enjoyed the audiobook as both characters had very distinct voice. I loved the chapters from Fern's perspective and it's great to have representation of people on the spectrum/with sensory processing disorder. Some of the abuse parts were really hard to listen to so check trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Infertility, and Murder

mlejb's review against another edition

challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

This was very engaging, and I was curious about the portrayal of autism or at least someone being very sensitive to sensory things. I would read this author again - I thought the format was very interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion

Huge, huge content warning about pregnancy