Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

14 reviews

colorcrystals's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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: Vomit, Violence, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Murder, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Excrement, Cancer, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use, and Gun violence

Minor: Pregnancy and Infertility

enzopudge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexual assault, Violence, Torture, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Pregnancy, and Panic attacks/disorders

sariereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Infertility, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Police brutality

trippalli's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

A sad tense and dark journey into the experiences of a teen kidnapped with other teens and a girl and their efforts to survive and escape. Really horrific and sad, a dark tale of abuse, psychological terror and Fighting for survival despite being beaten, raped and watching other girls get killed violently. A story of survival, police brutality, teen resilience and the terrifying world of abuse and damaged violent people gaslighting and brainwashing victims.

Not for the feint of heart

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Confinement, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Gun violence, and Infertility

heathers94's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Confinement, Violence, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Torture, Vomit, and Gaslighting

moack_5's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

This is a very dark, sad book but it is very well written. The author did a great job changing persons clearly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Confinement, and Gaslighting

shesflippinpages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Rape, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, and Police brutality

Minor: Drug use, Infertility, Cancer, and Bullying

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

It's an excellent thriller - I couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Police brutality, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Cursing, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Torture, Alcohol, Body shaming, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Rape, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Gore, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Cancer, and Pregnancy

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, and Confinement

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Infertility

readingwithtrey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What an incredible, incredible novel! I don't even know where to begin. This was my first read by Emiko Jean, but she is now an autobuy author for me, and I will definitely be checking out her backlist. This one was done so well!

I was sucked in by the very first pages and was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I felt all of the emotions including anger, sadness, anxiety, dread, and hope. While I knew of some inequities when it comes to missing women and the attention their cases receive, there were still a few incredibly heartbreaking things that I learned while reading this. It made me so angry and sick to my stomach to know that the specific girls who were abducted were taken for calculated reasons (e.g. their families were poor and therefore not much money would be allocated to their search and return).

While I had a feeling Chelsey's sergeant was involved in some way, I did not piece together the entire story, and I love thrillers where I can't guess what will happen. There was also a literal jaw dropping twist that I never in a million years would have guessed.

I don't know the words to describe Ellie's chapters other than amazing. But I don't feel that that is the correct word to use due to the content within them. But the writing was literal perfection. I could feel the fear, confusion, desperation, and despair that Ellie felt. It was a constant stomachache the entire time I was reading. I was rooting for her and all of those girls. I literally SOBBED at the end of Ellie's last chapter. It was heart wrenching.

The entire book was the work of brilliance. But one thing that really stood out to me was the contrast between Ellie's dad and the men who took Ellie and the other victims. Ellie's dad always felt inadequate and insecure because he couldn't provide for this family the way that he wanted. He felt less than as a man, but he took his frustrations to the sea, boating whenever he could. While he wasn't perfect, he tried not to take his frustrations out on the women in his life. He loved them. There was a very pivotal moment where he apologized to his wife for his inability to fully provide over the years especially when she was pregnant with their daughters, but his wife responds that it was okay because they were a team. She never saw him as less than. Now, when we look at the motivations of the men who took Ellie and the other victims, we see that they too felt inadequate and insecure. They suffered from abandonment issues and looked at the successes of women (one in particular who I won't mention as it could be a spoiler) as their downfall. Instead of getting therapy or seeking more productive avenues to get out their frustrations, they chose violence toward women. It was interesting to see the two different paths that were taken between these men that stemmed from the same feelings of insecurity.

I feel like this entire review is just me rambling, but I cannot recommend this enough. ALL. THE. STARS!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Books for a chance to be an early reader!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Rape, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Torture, Child abuse, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Misogyny

Minor: Racism and Racial slurs