Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

47 reviews

jkar7's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely adored this. It had so many wonderful elements and a happy ending. I also found the first ~1/3rd of the book hilarious. Not sure if I was supposed to, but Fern's perspective and communication with others is truly delightful to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Ableism

Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Dementia, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

carlytenille's review

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Infertility

kdonovan's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Death of parent

hanmitche11's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.5

Very predictable and not a true “thriller” kept me entertained with the family, sister and romantic relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Addiction, Child death, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Infertility

luizamjc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

Ok, so I started this book thinking I was not going to like it. The story seemed interesting, but it is a bit complicated when autistic people are represented by a (as far as I know) non-autistic author. And Fern’s descriptions in the beginning seem a bit problematic. But then this changes throughout the book while you figure things out and understand what’s really happening there. I didn’t think the plot was predictable like I’ve seen some people saying. I mean, it was to a certain extent, but the details still surprised me, and even though I had generally figured out what had happened, once I hit like the 200th page I literally could not stop reading cause I needed to know the details and what was going to happen. Fern and Wally are very loveable characters and their love really made me emotional. I loved the ending. However, I do think that it might contain some problematic representation of some mental illnesses that could be harmful to the people who have them. I think the part of Rose’s presumed diagnosis could’ve been left out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Death, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Grief, Ableism, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Infertility and Vomit

one character who is portrayed as a very bad person and has killed people is said to possibly have borderline personality disorder, which I think might be triggering if you have it

annaka's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

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

2.5

I really struggled with this book as I almost always do when someone writes books regarding mental illness but is not a professional in the field. I believe that the way she portrayed the characters could be harmful to the disorders she claims or alluded that they have. Also the "twist" was entirely predictable from very early on and so there was no interesting moment of reveal or mystery to this book for me. I enjoyed reading a book set in Australia (where I'm currently living) and there was a cute side plot story line I enjoyed but overall I wouldn't recommend picking this book up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent and Medical trauma

ksanderss's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Death of parent

nataliebootlah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-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? No

4.0

Told in the alternating perspectives of close-knit fraternal twins, Fern and Rose have gone through everything together. Rose is Fern’s person. Rose took care of Fern when they were children and now, as adults. Rose is the only one who knows how to help Fern when she becomes overwhelmed by loud sounds, bright lights, and overbearing smells due to her sensory processing disorder.  

 

This was a domestic suspense novel through and through. Who doesn’t love a familial drama? I loved Fern’s character, maybe because in typical mainstream books, you don’t often see characters with disabilities portrayed well. It really made the book that much more enjoyable. Representation matters! 

 

Even though it was a slow burn and the twists were a bit predictable, I still wanted to see out the ending. Another good one by Sally Hepworth.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Murder

jendif's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

This was very engaging, and I was curious about the portrayal of autism or at least someone being very sensitive to sensory things. I would read this author again - I thought the format was very interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Confinement, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Grief

Minor: Abortion

Huge, huge content warning about pregnancy