Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Las chicas by Emma Cline

30 reviews

mariaviola's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Drug use, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

kingcrookback's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

In terms of the subject matter--that is, girlhood, abuse, and the capability/desire to enact violence--The Girls is in the same vein as Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects. However, The Girls is a much slower, almost meditative experience than Flynn's novella. The crime itself is nearly an afterthought. The majority of the focus is on the buildup to the horrific event. The prose is beautifully descriptive but laconic at times. I suggest having a lighthearted, uplifting read lined up after this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, and Infidelity

Minor: Classism and Death of parent

mmendizabel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Drug use, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, and Body horror

grboph's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This was the first book I finished in 2022, and it was a very good one!! I have been very fascinated with cults recently, and this was a good deviation from a lot of the nonfiction things I have been using to learn about them (the cult in this book is clearly based on the Manson Family). Emma Cline is a wonderful writer, and it is somewhat hard to believe that this was the first book she ever wrote. I found Evie to be a very interesting character, and I think she had a good arc. The thing I liked the most about this book was that Evie felt very relatable, which was nice for me since I hadn't really encountered many teenage-girl characters like that in adult novels before. Then that scared me a little because I realized that maybe I could have fallen into something like Evie did if I had found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time when I was that age. I don't know if this was something Cline did on purpose, but either way, it made the book all the more thought-provoking. Overall, The Girls was a unique and engaging book and I enjoyed every second I spent reading it. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in cults or the 1960s as a time period, or anyone looking to read a unique story of any kind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Cursing, Excrement, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Bullying, Confinement, and Blood

This is a book about a violent, manipulative cult that culminates with a relatively graphic description of the murders of four people, one of whom is a young child. Also, the whole reason that the main character is drawn into the cult in the first place is because of someone she has an obsession with who is quite manipulative and cruel.

readingrainbow_butmakeitspoopy's review against another edition

dark sad tense

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence

necrobeata's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Physical abuse

lavieenrose's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Ableism, and Body shaming

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Sexual content

frankie_reads2's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

ellaaj's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• 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

This book is poetically written and often describes very ugly things in a beautiful way but at times, this feels too much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

earlgaytea711's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

 One of my goals this year is to read a bit more widely which is what had me pick up The Girls by Emma Cline from Libby this month. This is definitely not a book I usually read but I enjoyed it. I do have some rather mixed feelings about it overall though.

The way characters were written in this novel was so interesting. They were flawed and yet idolized by the main character. Evie, the main character, is obsessed with how people interact and it shows in the writing. In the way Cline can weave together the broken mind space of a 14 year old dealing with a lot. 

The story itself was dark but still managed to draw me in which is not an easy feat. I’ve been listening to a podcast about Cults lately and this fit right in with my current mood considering the entire novel is about Evie’s obsession with a Manson inspired cult. I think Cline did a good job of showcasing enough of the violence and ominous moments within the cult without using those kinds of things for shock value.

I had to go on a journey with the writing itself. While I think Cline’s writing is beautiful, it is also generally not a style I like. It’s full of sentence fragments and over description of scenery. It definitely sets the tone and works for this novel but it was difficult for me to get into the story at first. I spent the entire first 40% of the book considering putting it down and listing it as DNF. I think that was partly the writing style and partly the very slow beginning. Cline spends about the first 40% setting up the premise. 

Small spoilers ahead, skip to the next  paragraph if you’d like to avoid them.

I’ve noticed people seem to have gripes about the story flipping between the past and the present. However, I found these flips helpful. They were a reminder that even if dark, Evie makes it through. But I also thought they were good at showing how that experience permanently altered her and she’ll never be able to get that back.

This read was very outside my comfort zone and I’m so glad I decided to read it. I enjoyed seeing things from Evie’s perspective and also realizing that in cults there are always people on the outskirts who’s stories don’t necessarily get told. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse