Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

17 reviews

mecmccann's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Behind Closed Doors was a better version of the same tropes in The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden. In this book, we follow a young girl who meets and quickly marries who she thinks is the man of her dreams. But on their wedding day, her sister and bridesmaid who has downs syndrome falls down the stairs and breaks her leg. They proceed with the wedding, and her new husband turns on her. He confides that it isn't her that he wants, its her sister. (though it's not clear what for. He said this in the same breath as "having sex with you was cumbersome and I didn't want to do it," so I think he wanted to assault her). He locks her in a room, he takes all her money, he starves her and tortures her. 

It's dark. I don't mind darkness, in fact, I typically like a psychological horror/thriller book. However, this was too straightforward and lacked any suspense. And this main character was not getting that he wanted to rape her disabled sister and put off getting out of the situation until the absolute last second. Is that where the suspense was? I didn't love this book. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Abandonment, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

mirandalikesbooks's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A quick and easy read! Would be great for a flight or a rainy day.

I thought I was settling in for something a little meatier. In my opinion, the story introduced the conflict right away and didn't do much to surprise the reader throughout.

However, I did like Millie's role in the plot - she was more clever than people wanted to give her credit for. I also liked the battle of wills between Jack and Grace. The "who will win" of it all kept me reading. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Minor: Infertility and Forced institutionalization

kristysproule's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Infertility, and Miscarriage

shaleen64's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

As far as domestic thrillers go this isn’t a bad one, however the ‘plot twists’ were predictable (excluding Millie’s help with Lucy’s situation). I enjoyed the book but can’t say I’d rush to read more work by this author. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Confinement

Moderate: Ableism and Animal death

Minor: Infertility

kelseyr713's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I’m a bit torn on how to rate this, because I couldn’t put it down and HAD to find out what happened, but on the other hand Jack is a cartoonishly portrayed villain with zero redeeming qualities and Grace’s initial bad decisions are infuriating to read. The ending is satisfying though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Torture, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Murder, Abandonment, Sexism, Animal death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Infertility, and Pregnancy

alenafrankis's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Death, Infertility, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Murder, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Animal cruelty, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Vomit

jessicaschick's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

alright so that book made me literally never want to get married lmao

also we love Millie and Esther in this household

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Confinement

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol, Infertility, Car accident, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

violetbentbackwards1036's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Infertility, Torture, Abandonment, Alcohol, Infidelity, Medical content, Suicide, Death of parent, Grief, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Murder, Pregnancy, Animal death, Confinement, Miscarriage, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Ableism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, and Violence

rainbowkamiya's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Torture, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Infertility and Physical abuse

short_stories's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Torture, and Abandonment

Moderate: Murder and Death

Minor: Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Infertility, Suicide, and Eating disorder