Reviews tagging 'Blood'

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen

67 reviews

amy_lp's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Body shaming, Torture, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, and Physical abuse

aijah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Blood, Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Torture, and Violence

bell4trixx's review

dark sad tense slow-paced

3.0

For anyone who is in to true crime. There are parts of this book that is interesting and informative, it does seem like the author did a lot of work researching what happened, but this book could have used a better editor. By the end of it, it really seemed to drag on, I think some of the stories of abuse could have been edited out..

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Cursing

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Torture, and Medical content

If you are triggered by abuse not a good read. Good read if you’re in the mood for an in-depth true crime on an abusive family/mother

kahbarrow's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Medical content, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Murder, Homophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Bullying, Body shaming, Suicide, Fatphobia, Death, and Sexual content

priscillarobock's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Bullying, and Toxic relationship

n_binversie99's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Mental illness, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Suicide, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Vomit

Minor: Gun violence, Incest, and Animal cruelty

maddness22's review

dark sad fast-paced

0.25

I do not respect this book in the slightest. It's an attempt to capitalize on one family's horrible tragedy during the height of the true crime fascination. This is poorly written without any substance to the cruelty it outlines. There's no additional psychological insight into the mother's sadistic nature, no actual mention of the "bonds of sisterhood" until the final 10% of the book and even then it's a rather weak grab, and the timeline of events is written in the worst and most confusing manner. This was literally just composed for shock value and really only lists the acts of crimes committed by the narcissistic and sadistic mother and her pathetic husband. 

If it was meant as a warning for Shelly's release or even as a toolkit for others to recognize how severe abuse can be so subtle in its nature to integrate so fully in a victim's life, the message could've been conveyed with about 200 less pages and repetitive drawn out torture scenes. However, these lessons are barely conveyed successfully anyways. The writing is vague, confusing, and the author truly uses the word "niggled" un-ironically at one point. Like? Seriously? That's not even a real word and it sounds childish at best. 

Skip this shock value torture nonsense. Just know their mother was vile and we need to believe in victims. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

serenaann's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Abandonment, Child death, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Murder, Sexual harassment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Vomit, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Addiction, Cursing, Excrement, Medical trauma, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Gun violence

caitcalvert's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Gaslighting, Blood, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Murder, Torture, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, and Child abuse

labbyreads's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

2.0

Read Full Review

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen takes readers on a heart-wrenching journey through the chilling true story of Shelly Knotek and the unimaginable abuse inflicted on her children. Olsen commendably highlights the victims' resilience, but the focus on family dynamics falls short of expectations. The characters feel one-dimensional, missing an opportunity to explore the psychology behind Shelly's actions. The dense and graphic content, coupled with a dragging middle section, makes for a challenging read. The pacing issues and a disjointed timeline contribute to a somewhat dissatisfying experience. While capturing unimaginable horrors, If You Tell falls short of being the best true crime, offering an okay but flawed narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Excrement, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Murder, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Violence, Torture, Animal death, Gaslighting, and Death