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But to end this review with a positive note, I really liked the character development of Sally Diamond. It was understandable and for me it brought some sense of hope, which was beautiful (but sadly destroyed in the ending).
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Confinement, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Abandonment
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Have SERIOUS trigger warnings. so I highly advise you to proceed with caution.
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment
I devoured it in three hours.
Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent follows Sally, who we meet on the death of her father. Sally takes things rather literally so, when her dad says to put him out with the rubbish when he dies…that’s what she does. This triggers off a series of events that changes Sally’s life forever, and reveals a series of long kept secrets.
This is my first book by Nugent and, at first, you do think you’re reading a book similar to that of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Sally is a gorgeously complex character and I became very protective of her, even though she doesn’t always do the right thing. It becomes clear as the novel goes on that Sally’s past has very much informed her behaviour in the present.
Nugent then twists the story by adding a second perspective. I’m not going to go into spoilers, but it gets dark. There are trigger warnings aplenty: rape, kidnapping, forced imprisonment, emotional, physical and sexual abuse, suicide. However, despite the heaviness of the topics, Nugent’s writing has a light touch, and nothing ever feels like trauma for trauma’s sake.
This is a wonderfully dark novel that, at its heart, asks the question of nature vs nurture. Can we really forge a life outside of our biology? Our upbringing? Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of our parents? And what is “normal” anyway?
I don’t give star reviews, but if I did, this would get the full 5. One of my favourite reads of the year so far. Thank you so much to Penguin Viking for sending me this!
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Pedophilia, Violence, Medical trauma
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Car accident