Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall

88 reviews

kys831's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I was a huge fan of Marshall's first book, What Lies In the Woods, so I was really excited for this one. Alas, this isn't her strongest. It starts off incredibly strong--we see some of the hallmarks present in WLITW (a scrappy heroine who with chronically low self-esteem and a partner/spouse so insidiously manipulative, so toxic and passive aggressive, that Marshall must, I'm sure, be writing from experience).

The plot is extremely compelling: family secrets, sisters, fake Satanic panic.

But I found the end of the book was extremely unsatisfying, even confusing. The answers of what happened that night are frustrating and, somehow, the twist doesn't feel earned.

 There are so many consecutive "ok, here's what really happened" scenes from different POVs dripping small pieces of information that when the book FINALLY establishes the truth (sort of), you're just tired from having run through all these alternate scenarios that made sense but apparently didn't happen. The determination to have a pretty complex set of twists and side plots came at the expense of further exploration of these fantastic characters. 

The good: The characterization is realistic and strong-- each sister copes with her situation in her own way. And this is definitely a page turner. But by the end, the book

employs this "is what actually happened really that impt? idk lol" vibe that I didn't care for. We needed more insight into the girls' mother instead of wondering at her potential motivations. And the fraud/police corruption angle was really underdeveloped.

 

So enjoyable and compelling to read but the end fell flat for me. But I'm still a fan of Marshall and will definitely read her next books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

jgillaspie20's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

It was a quick read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse

juanat77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual content, Stalking, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Blood, Gun violence, Abortion, Addiction, Murder, Physical abuse, and Drug use

madelynowil's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Drug use, and Pregnancy

Minor: Car accident

swalbert's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Child abuse

dilani's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

while i found myself racing to finish this book and figure out who really committed the murder, i felt there were some parts that could have been left out. the amount of twists had my head spinning. my theories changed the more i read, but i can say i was pretty accurate in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy and Infidelity

amfuglest's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Drug use

akcurtis's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.0

If you're looking for a book that gets you invested in the characters, look elsewhere.  The sisters aren't likeable. Every male character is the worst (how many inappropriate relationships were happening between older men and teenagers). All of the adults are terrible.

On top of that, this book really fell apart in the end.  It was like she wasn't sure who she wanted to blame because they were all awful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

bertrandlm's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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: Gun violence, Murder, and Child abuse

Minor: Suicide

lilacs_book_bower's review

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

3.0

Not sure whether this one will stick with me or not.  Decent mystery, some nice twists.  Not a waste of time, but nothing I would re-read or go out of my way to recommend to people.  One or two things felt a little unfinished or just dropped at the end.  I tend to prefer KAM's YA horror books, which I highly recommend.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Violence