Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Särmikäs Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

382 reviews

cajdincau's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic

brynnj40's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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*audio

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse

klpage's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 54%

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I found the childhood trauma too much, very graphic and it wasn’t what I was expecting from this book. 

It was quirky but I just wasn’t expecting these triggering topics to be in this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence

aedabrowski's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Abandonment

hlweisshaar's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I sped through this book because it was so captivating. Rating would have been 5 stars, but the ending was too vague for my tastes. I like completely wrapped up endings and this one left too much up to my imagination. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Car accident, Pregnancy

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Stalking, Abandonment, Sexual harassment

iamkateness's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Murder

erinhunt's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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While the story itself is awful, the writing was engaging and I was so drawn to how Sally was depicted. The ending was tough like most other reviewers mention, but given the nature of the story, it felt fitting as we weren’t left with clear closure. For that reason, I am glad for an epilogue, just wanted more of it. Overall, while I think I really enjoyed this read, the triggering parts of the book (check the warnings!) were tough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Gaslighting

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Pregnancy

wellreadsyd's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was such a brilliant, layered exploration of trauma and how it manifests in different ways. Some survivors struggle with social interactions, some fight to break the cycle, and others, well… let’s just say they don’t. Sally was such a fascinating character—her blunt, literal nature made me love her, but as her past unraveled, I was livid at the horrors she endured. The author did an incredible job showing the effects of abuse, and I couldn’t put this one down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence

rivareads's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense 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

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What an incredible story. The main character is very complex and well written, and makes for a loving non-reliable narrator. It has one of the best first chapters I've read in a while, that made me think it was going to be a whacky story of a whacky woman. Then it got dark and very very gripping. Absolutely a page turner 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping

Moderate: Mental illness

goodandhardy's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Overall this was a very engaging read, and I enjoyed getting to know Sally. While I realize the book is named for her, I found myself wishing I could keep the peripheral characters straight better, simply because their characters were far less developed and it was easy to care less about who was who. That said, there was some interesting exploration of the themes, and while there was a dark turn for one storyline, others ended hopefully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping