Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

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

21 reviews

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... 

---

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

mtehan7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.75

---

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. 

---

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

purpleshamrock's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Cancer, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

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. 

---

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

thesaltiestlibrarian's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense slow-paced

3.0

---

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

ksuper's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.75

Really great book, although very sad and sickening to read about. As someone who loves true crime podcasts I did like this book and was frustrated in how the authorities handled this case. Can be be very triggering and not for the faint of heart.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

jnnsrmk's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Abandonment and Cancer

autumnwhite's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Gore, Gaslighting, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

anb04's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, and Child abuse