Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

With Teeth by Kristen Arnett

25 reviews

sadig27's review

challenging dark funny reflective sad 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: Addiction, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Infertility, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Grief, Medical content, Alcohol, Medical trauma, and Child death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders

shoohoob's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Child abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Mental illness

knkoch's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Yikes! I found this extremely sinister and disturbing. It was quite different from other contemporary family dramas I’ve read. It’s also the first audiobook I’ve listened to in ages; the narration was great, but perhaps hearing a woman say out loud the dialogue and inner monologue of the main character made this especially chilling.

I suppose this felt like a very accurate portrayal of difficult people, and of selfish, irresponsible personalities. I can’t say I truly enjoyed the reckless ride, although it was certainly a gripping story. I wavered between empathy and distaste for the characters, similar to my discomfort with White Ivy. I’m curious to see if I can find any interviews where Kristen Arnett talks about her goals for this book. If you’re into very dark, twisted literary fiction, this one’s for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Not trying to tick all the boxes, but this touches on quite a few difficult subjects.

eunoiaoftay's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Sexual content

chastitymarie's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Kidnapping, Grief, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

meghan4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

formerbookclubpresident's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

this book is so heartbreaking and riveting I loved it from start to finish. i loved it and very easily feel that this will be a top 10 read for me this year. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

seekittyread's review

Some women shouldn't be mothers. Just over 20 pages in and the main character says her child belongs to her and then complains about her own failure to give birth to him and allowing doctors to perform an unnecessary c-section. Couldn't turn another page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Kidnapping

Normalizes obstetric abuse and unnecessary c-sections.

jes312's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Blood, and Sexual content

Moderate: Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Cursing

Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Vomit

abbie_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

So messy, I loved it! I’ve not read a book with these dynamics before - two women raising their son, older lesbians with relationship troubles and addressing the ugly parts of raising a child. It’s difficult being in Sammy’s head sometimes as she continues to make terrible decision after terrible decision, but I just love narratives about parents being open and honest with their struggles about their kids, and how it feels to not like your kid (I don’t have kids lol).

Reminded me a bit of We Need to Talk About Kevin, but not as dark! I also didn’t see the point in the page-long interludes told from the POVs of extremely minor characters who come into contact with Sammy throughout the novel. They felt like a creative writing exercise, something that the author jotted down while writing to make her main characters seem more 3D but then accidentally included. 

But still a very good read especially if you love a messy book

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Kidnapping