Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Särmikäs Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

39 reviews

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic

cnannery19's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

redheadbookgirl's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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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Oh how I wish I’d picked this up sooner.. 🙌🏽 Disturbing, harrowing + captivating, but also witty and humorous, this was an absolutely unputdownable book that I devoured in two sittings. This was my first read by Nugent but it definitely won’t be my last!!

With intriguing, complex characters, a quirky and unique plot + some truly shocking twists, this was an incredibly well crafted, engaging and fast paced read. There were so many chilling components to this book but even the very dark aspects of the plot were explored in a sensitive manner. 

Sally’s character was expertly curated: she was quirky + eccentric, exasperating + frustrating but also quirky + loveable with a dark sense of humour and as the story progresses we slowly begin to be able to piece together why she is the way she is. Her journey of self discovery + growth was compelling and heartwarming. 

If you liked the characterisation in Eleanor Oliphant and/or The Maid you’ll love Sally! I’ve seen this story described as a combination between the two mixed with ROOM + I’d have to agree, although it’s even darker and left me completely speechless. 

This will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I wholeheartedly recommend it + I also highly recommend going in blind!! (though maybe do check cw’s) 🙌🏽

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Gaslighting

tillysbookbar's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Definitely an intriguing story and well written, however the r*pe, SA, child abuse, and other forms of trauma was just really hard for me to read. I wish that I had been aware of trigger warnings before I read this. Again, a well-written and unique story, just wasn't my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault

lue_moon's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I'm still sitting with how I'm feeling about this book...particularly the ending. It felt pretty well paced, intriguing, and took some dark turns that were interesting to read. I really liked the relationships Sally developed with her friends and some of the development around her character. I did get thrown off a bit by the inclusion of the pandemic at the end (wasn't expecting it and it brought it back closer to the real world, which I usually pretend I don't exist in while reading 🙃).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault

sineadhg's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Death of parent

jstar84's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Pregnancy

charlottefaye's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional 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

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Phew what a listen, dark yet so well written and engaging story. This isn’t going to leave my mind for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Kidnapping, Car accident

frankensteinscreature's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious tense fast-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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This book really hooked me. The opening reminded me of We Have Always Lived in the Castle which is always a positive thing! I’m still not sure how I feel about the ending, I think I was hoping for more twists and turns but this was still a fascinating book that held me all the way through a long train journey. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting

bellsandorgan's review against another edition

3.25

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent