Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen

13 reviews

labbyreads's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

2.0

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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

artzea's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

A dark, true story that is as disturbing as it is horrible. Not my usual read, but I couldn’t put the book down once I started it.

The story was told in an easy and comprehensive way, with only a few issues: A jumpy timeline and certain slow/non-important parts.

A good read, but beware the tragic events this book contains.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Grief, Physical abuse, Torture, Death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Violence, Abandonment, and Blood

spookysierra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Gaslighting, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Addiction, and Violence

systemofanoun's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Slavery, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Cancer, Body shaming, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Animal death

hollistera's review

dark informative sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Animal death, Death, and Emotional abuse

melly82092's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I don't think I have ever read a story more painful and gut wrenching then this one. The Author did an excellent job re-telling the events through the POV of those involved. This one is going to haunt me for quite awhile, I can feel it... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Death, Body shaming, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Torture, Murder, Mental illness, Cursing, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Drug use, Cancer, and Blood

cxxitlyn's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

1.5

The writing in this book really ruined it for me. It felt very poor for the first half, after that it just seemed I had grown “used” to it. The events described are horrific, and it’s hard to remember that these are things people truly lived through and experienced. Reading their story is really the only thing that kept me reading. Their events are told in detail though, so this book is not for the faint of heart as some of the things described are incredibly hard to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Bullying, Death, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Fatphobia, Grief, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Torture, Toxic friendship, Blood, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Cancer, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Hate crime, Murder, and Homophobia

madsreads_'s review

dark sad slow-paced

2.0

as you can see by all the content warnings - a grim read. also felt like the author was kind of revelling in the vivid descriptions of abuse????? the story felt almost fictional in the way it was written, unlike other true crime I have read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Suicide, Bullying, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Violence

lilracc's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Murder, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Cancer, Animal death, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Blood

beth_waller97's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Body horror, Gore, Death, and Animal death