Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood by Gregg Olsen, Gregg Olsen

30 reviews

breannafelty's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Child death, and Child abuse

mtehan7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Torture, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Homophobia, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Cancer, Child death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

cxxitlyn's review against another edition

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 against another edition

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

elliebognar's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Death

klwpvfc's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

beckyremillard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

4.0

This was so hard to read. I wasn’t aware of this story, as all of this occurred before I was born or when I was young. I don’t read many true crime stories, but this one was recommended to me and the summary sounded like thrillers I have read. 

However, I was not prepared for the horrors that the victims had to endure. Of course a true crime story discussing murder will have horrendous crimes, but the details of what they experienced - especially first hand from the children - was more than I was expecting. 

Honestly, I might not have finished this book, but the beginning describes the sisters in the present. I knew they survived and were doing well today, so once I started reading about the abuse I needed to make it to the end to read about the the survival. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Torture, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer and Terminal illness

lilracc's review against another edition

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

madisonpages98's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

3.0

This book was an incredibly tragic story of abuse. I will say, this type of book is not my typical read. (I generally only read fiction.) It was recommended to me by a friend and I can see why. The story was devastatingly sad but the end was inspiring and showcased the beauty of sisterhood. The only reason this read is not five stars is because I tend to only read fiction so it is not a book I would typically read. Also, the triggers were very intense and could be an issue for other readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Mental illness

This book is majorly triggering. I would highly recommend skipping this read if you are questioning whether or not it will be too intense for you.

michelles_book_nook's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

⚠️ TW: parental death, mentions of suicide, physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, narcissistic abuse, drug/substance abuse, domestic violence, graphic violence, graphic content, prolific gaslighting, torture, murder, homophobia ⚠️ This book is a real emotional rollercoaster and I cried so much. This read follows the life of the Knotek family told by the three sisters, Nikki, Sami and Tori, through police interviews and files from the case. It is honestly horrific and vile what this family endured at the hands of their mum, Shelly, but also discusses so many failings by police and various services to allow it to go on for so long. My heart broke not only for the family but also Kathy and Ron who were bought in to help with the growing family. As for the many men in Shelly's life I think the one I equally disliked and felt somewhat sorry for was Dave Knotek. He was abused like the children were even though he also dished out abuse instructed by Shelly but I found him infuriating with how he'd been brainwashed. In short Shelly is a psychopath. This is an extremely hard read but it is a very informative and good read too. If you are interested in reading true crime or abuse memoirs then I do recommend this but please read the TW's.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Blood, Self harm, Gaslighting, Torture, Murder, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death of parent