Reviews tagging 'Grief'

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

39 reviews

lisa_butler79's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

If you Tell - Gregg Olsen

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I needed a day too get over this book before I wrote a review. Quite literally WTF! I actually have no words for the abuse that Shelly inflicted on her children and best friend. I have no words for the husband that allowed this too happen and turned a blind eye because he was also so scared or her. I'm shocked to the core.

If this was a fictional novel I would actually be thinking there Is no way someone could be that vile, vindictive and manipulative to do that to another human being. However, this Is actually based on a real event which makes this even more horrific. How on earth does someone brainwash another human being to this extent. I have so many unanswered questions.

The author did an amazing job of writing this horrific story of the 3 sisters that survived. The courage they showed to report their own mother and put themselves in the spotlight was so brave.

When I finished the book I Googled the story and learned that Shelly was released last year. This is scary. I don’t believe at all that she is any different now than she was then. Anyone that can do this too another human being with no compassion will still be mentally ill and a threat to society. In my opinion.

This book shook me to the core and I will be thinking about it for a long time because no fictional story can be scarier than this woman. Not for the Faint hearted

1st photo my dog and book cover hes had a haircut 
2nd photo book cover
3rd photo back of book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Slavery, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Murder, and Toxic relationship

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

mkrauth12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Child death, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Cancer, Confinement, Mental illness, Slavery, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Torture, and Violence

soupysammy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Brutal, scary, and heartbreaking. 
I felt afraid reading this and imagining that this could be real life and is real life is unbelievably terrifying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Medical trauma, Cancer, Grief, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Vomit, Violence, and Gore

akeivens's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Medical content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Child abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Self harm and Cancer

ka_ke's review against another edition

dark emotional informative slow-paced

3.0

I didn’t realize If You Tell was non-fiction until I actually started reading it. But the content of this book reaches a level of dark monstrosity that not even Stephen King himself would write it. The Knotek case is a once-in-a-lifetime look into psychopathy with plenty of theories as to how Shelly Knotek’s early childhood impacted her through out her life until her imprisonment. It also shows just how effective abusive individuals can be with their victims. For Shelly to claim having cancer for literal decades with no one questioning her, its almost amazing to learn about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

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

thesaltiestlibrarian's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Cursing, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer