Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

13 reviews

decembermagpie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: War

nakarinna83's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Incest

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

rdoose's review

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Incest, Child death, Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Adult/minor relationship

trout_lily's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

On the one hand it is a gorgeous generations-spanning Canadian-Lebanese story about a part of Canada I know so little about- Cape Breton.  It's a story of deep trauma, sexual abuse and neglect, the secrets that are kept from others so one can survive, and the ways in which 3 sisters understand and respond to their circumstances so differently. On the other hand it is excruciatingly long. I struggled to get through it -mostly the middle chunk during what felt like decades of girls growing up in circles.  I put it down many times but I eventually finished it. It was somewhat worth finishing, but ugh,  it really, really,  really needed an editor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault

kirishanthy's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual harassment, Grief, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

calandra_hudson's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and War

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicide

lanna_aud's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Incest, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Racism, Car accident, and Sexism

hellokatya's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

this was an amazing book. it was my first time reading anything of the sort, so i was unsure what to expect, but let me tell you: it was not that. my only gripe is: i wish she had made the passage of time more clear. it was very hard at times to figure out what period of time things are taking place in, or how close in successions events occurred. this book took my heart, held it, crushed it, bandaged it up, spit on it, and threw it in a dumpster. there were some parts of the book i had to re-read or sit and think about, but i think that's a positive more than it is a negative; it made my brain put in effort. the pacing got a little shaky at times, but the overall story + the ending made everything worthwhile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Racism, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Incest and Drug use

Minor: Racial slurs and Dysphoria

miffywrld's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Incest

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

The synopsis of this book doesn't give much away about it. And I do feel that is a positive because I went in blindly and let the story take me where it wanted to go. It was a challenging book and took some time to get into the rhythm of, but I would say about 100 pages in, I had an ah-ha moment and from there it just flowed for me. This story is very well written and showcases such a cast of characters. The dynamics of the relationships were strong and compelling. The characters were rich. Lily was my personal favourite. She just felt so relatable.  This story was sad and dark and challenging and I know that does not work for everyone, but I enjoyed it for what it was. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse