Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Magpie by Elizabeth Day

12 reviews

iamnita's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

This book started so well and the idea was well-done. I could see that we were headed somewhere twisty and then I got surprised by a twist I should have but didn't see coming. By 70% I was so excited by the rest of the book but honestly wish I'd just stopped there. It's almost as if the author dropped the plot and then had a deadline to get to. Which was disappointing. I also could have done without the last chapter. But the vibes were immaculate to 70%.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Violence, Infertility, Stalking, and Confinement

bumble_abi's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

you can tell I'm not having a great time with my mental health because I'm reading mass market thrillers again 

this is blurbed as 'the most mind-blowing book of the year' which is the kind of hyperbole that can only set a book up for a fall. Marisa and her lovely boyfriend move in together and try to start a family, but Marisa is increasingly disturbed by the behaviour of their solicitous and overfamiliar lodger, Kate. There's a decent twist in this but it occurs only about a third of the way into the book, and then the rest is the long unraveling of how we got to that point, followed by a slightly too tidy ending.

This truly did feel like a book of two halves - the first half is great, tense and confusing and addictive, but it peaks too early and doesn't leave enough meat for the second half. There's not enough depth to any of it to justify its ultimate meandering. There's a (not graphic - the narrative voice just tells you it happened) rape scene which didn't have very much of a purpose in the plot except as a shortcut to creating a character who is unstable, which felt unnecessary and distasteful. I enjoyed it well enough but wouldn't rush to recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Infertility, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

Moderate: Rape and Violence

xbernadette's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Blood, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, and Violence

heather077's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Infertility

Moderate: Rape, Stalking, Sexual content, and Miscarriage

catbells360's review

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Stalking, and Violence

h_rg98's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Loved this book and the concept. I loved the change of perspective in writing and it made it more mysterious. I felt as though the end of the book felt a little rushed. Otherwise, loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility

Minor: Emotional abuse

lldavey's review

challenging dark emotional medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment

a_alves00's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

sib_reads's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Violence, Abortion, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Infertility, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Stalking, Abandonment, Cursing, Pedophilia, and Grief

abbie_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

I picked this one up because I needed something plot-driven to keep my attention while staying at home looking after my dog while she recovered from a traumatic visit to the dentist! Magpie delivers on that front, but only if you don’t think about it too much. 

Considering how well I thought Day handles topics like motherhood and infertility, I was disappointed with her treatment of mental health issues. Not so into mental health problems being used as plot twists. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Rape, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, and Miscarriage