Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Flicka, kvinna, annan by Bernardine Evaristo

150 reviews

kennie's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was truly a beautiful book to listen to. It was thought-provoking but also incredibly funny and relatable at times. The way that the author chose to discuss themes of relationships, struggle, race, and womanhood was truly masterful. It was so interesting to read characters that have thoughts and characteristics that I honestly disagree with while also still being able to appreciate where those perspectives came from, because of the in-depth personal background of each character.  It almost forces the reader to think about what is a moral hard stop when it comes to disagreeing with someone. "Can I truly want to be someone's friend if they still harbor homophobic tendencies?" "Do I want to interact with someone who has no care for the wellbeing of others?" It shows you that you will never truly agree with every single thing someone thinks, that you will have to deal with the fact that you disagree. The only minor critique I have is that some of the stories towards the end of the middle began to get repetitive, I still believe they were important because they eventually tied into the world of this book, but something about them became slightly monotonous. But once again, this book was truly beautiful, I would recommend it to just about anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

jo_lzr's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement and Police brutality

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Fire/Fire injury

thedisabledreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

vespasiana's review against another edition

While extremely lovely and evocative, I just wasn’t in the reading mood at the time to get through such deep character work - or so many characters. I tend to like a bit more forward plotty movement, preferably around a smaller group of characters, so overall this just wasn’t for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual assault

mme_carton's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Self harm, Slavery, Excrement, and War

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, and Infertility

leoniefnk's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Classism

maiahhtratchh's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I loved the characters and, even when I didn’t necessarily love them, I felt like I could understand them better. I found the pacing of the book, and how disjointed it was (stylistic choice not a writing error), was difficult for me to get into for long periods. It was very ebb and flow interest. I basically had a hard time getting into each new character but as soon as I was in it it would switch to someone else. It was a good book, it just wasn’t necessarily my favourite. I have listed A LOT of trigger warnings, however, it being a social commentary, they are used to explore the nuances and intersectionality between race, class, sexuality, and gender and do not overpower the commentary. However, I LOVED the ending and epilogue. It was so emotional and that was probably my favourite storyline.

it also answered my main question of how Penelope fit into the story, beyond working with Shirley. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Miscarriage

Minor: Cancer

Child sexual abuse, adoption trauma

orlagal's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism

teaskate's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The concept of this book is really interesting and I really enjoyed how it was brought to light.The connections and story’s between the characters were extraordinarily good and the different perspectives of the time lines in Britain and the characters were really interesting.Great book :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Deadnaming

parasolcrafter's review against another edition

emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment