Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

8 reviews

cannibaldear's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Child abuse, and Death of parent

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I'm not going to lie, for the first 60-70 pages of this book, I wasn't enjoying it which made me sad because I absolutely ADORED "The Last Housewife" by this author. I was almost going to DNF it, however, in  "The Last Housewife" I also didn't enjoy the first 60 or so pages so I thought I'd give this book the same courtesy and I'm so glad I did.

Although I wasn't enjoying the first 60-70 pages there was something about Ashely Winstead's writing that got me. It was like it was laced with something because I still read it pretty quickly. Same with the previous book that I read from her; I just really enjoy her writing. However, I think a big part of me not enjoying the beginning was that I felt like there were too many characters being introduced at once for me to imagine who was who. 

After my rough patch in the beginning, I started to really enjoy the book and the things that went down. There was so much drama and secrets and that's what kept it so entertaining for me. There were so many crazy things happening. A lot (if not most) of the characters were unlikeable which isn't a deterring factor for me when it comes to a good book. I honestly think their unlikeability was the point. To point out that no one in that friend group was innocent as well as revealing the toxicity that engulfed them. 

I also enjoyed the subtle subplot of romance in this book once I understood the dynamic because in the beginning I was confused about who Jessica was really falling for, but that becomes clear a bit later. 

And as I was reading, I couldn't help but notice that Mint and Jessica kind of parallel each either. Both are concerned with image and status and it's pointed out a couple of times in the book that both view each other superficially. Mint views Jessica as "the good girl" who will stay loyal to him no matter what. And Jessica views Mint as "the golden boy" to elevate her status as she strives for her father's dream. It's also important to note their parental situation and the fact that both their fathers are dead. I'm glad that the author pointed that out in the end. That they're two sides of the same coin.

I got the twist about halfway through the book however it was still fun to see how things unfollowed. It was so crazy!

Overall, I had a good time with this book and that's honestly thing only thing one can ask for when you read a book! Also, I loved Coop! (and Jack and Frankie) 

However, I don't encourage Jack's cheating on Heather with Frankie at all. I feel like this has become normalized, but I honestly can't stand it when it's portrayed that a closeted person cheats on their significant other with someone else. Cheating is cheating regardless of the reason behind it (except in abusive circumstances). He still hurt her and I cannot stand for that. And I also don't condone Coop's cheating on Caro as well as Jessica's cheating on Mint (as bad as Mint was).

 

Side note: I saw some comments about the title. I'm not sure if this is a reoccurring theme in Ashely Winstead's book, but I've noticed that both the books I've read by her have titles that didn't have much to do with the book, but I have noticed that they do match certain scenes in the book. Like this title, "In My Dreams I Hold on a Knife" may reference the fact that Heather was stabbed 17x. Just a theory.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Death, Violence, Abandonment, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, and Drug abuse

Minor: Drug use, Rape, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Homophobia, Outing, and Sexual assault

rachelcotter1's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Outing, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

pageafter_paige's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This books was so good! There was insane drama and toxic friendships that had me glued to my kindle! The characters flaws all come to light and it’s just so messy in the best way! I know I’ll be thinking about this one for awhile! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Blood, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Drug use

wrestleacademic's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Death of parent

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

So I'm like a year late to the party with this one, but better late than never. I was so scared that this wasn't going to live up to my expectations and yet it exceeds them all. I love morally ambiguous characters and this book is chock full of them, down to the main character who is at once intriguing and insufferable.

My experience with this book was strange because I read the first 140 pages on Friday, then I didn't read for most of the weekend, and then read the rest of it in one sitting on Sunday night. Before I even knew that I'd been sitting there reading it for that long, it was nearly 4am, and I needed to know what happened with this shady ass group of friends. I was so entranced by the drama of it all - and the dual timelines were CRAZYYYY well done. This book read like a movie. I fucking loved it. I saw none of the twists coming but in retrospect they were right in front of me the whole time.

Anyway this is your sign to pick this up if you haven't already and are late to the party like me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Child abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Addiction, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicide and Religious bigotry

Minor: Transphobia and Outing

sallysimply's review against another edition

dark tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Rape, Blood, Child abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Homophobia

spacecadelliot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence