Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

As raparigas que fui by Tess Sharpe

42 reviews

auteaandtales's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy and Abortion

emily_reads09's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is honestly my new favorite book. I loved the story and all the characters are so cool. I appreciated the short chapters and loved the overall set up of the book (having the time, the tools, different color pages for the flashbacks, etc.). I thought the mix of writing styles worked really well and helped me to read for longer periods of time. What really elevated this book to god-tier status was the last three pages — the resources & hotlines and the note on endometriosis. Tess Sharpe has written a thrilling and emotional book and has taken great care in doing so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

angrybred's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Death, and Pregnancy

lotten4's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The tempo is high, the main character badass and the story sad but those parts are not longer or more detailed than necessary

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Murder, Kidnapping, and Blood

Minor: Vomit

galexy_brain's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Pedophilia

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Biphobia, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Vomit

itshardizzy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was a pleasant surprise. When I saw what this book was about i immediately got interested: i mean, the book is set in the middle of a robbery and there is a girl that has a secret past and various identities? and she is bi!! what else could I ask for?

Nora is a girl who grow up being taught how to lie and how to fool people. Her mom was a con lady and she taught her daughter everything, making a whole new personality and name for her every time they changed cities. Nora has been more than one person in her life: she was Rebecca, Samantha, Haley, Katie and Ashley – and now she is Nora.

She learned things that she takes with her until the present time. And now she has this confusion inside of her, a confusion that we all have at some point of our life: who am I? Nora doesn't really who she is, if she is one of the girls she had been, if she is Nora or if she is someone totally different – a combination of all the girls.

This book dwells on abuse that comes in many forms. In Nora's life, she met abuse in every step of her childhood. She was used by her mother and by the people around her. And it talks about some experience that we, as women, have to go through – I have one phrase that stucked with me and that I would like to share: "Katie taught me fear. Not of men. I already knew that fear them, because don't all girls learn, in the end?" and if u don't resonate with this one bit is probably bc you are a men. thank u for ur time.

We have also this important content about friendship and relationships that goes beyond love interest. Wes and Nora friendship is the perfect representation of what I would call soulmates - they aren't in love with each other romantically, but they are in love with each other in a way that I feel surpass the romantic side. And this subplot about their friendship was honestly so well done and so genuine.

But, when talking about relationships, I think the most important one in this book is Nora relationship with herself — with all of the girls she have been. I felt like this showed to me its okay for u not to be only a version of yourself, and it's OK to feel conflicted. All of the different yous that you've been only made u stronger and now you can decide who you are gonna be – and the great part is that you can be whoever u want. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Vomit

Minor: Rape

maaikereadsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

sarahmreads's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

Nora, her ex-boyfriend Wes, and her now girlfriend Iris find themselves wrapped up in a hostage situation when their trip to the bank goes awry. However, Nora isn't just Nora. She's also a bunch of other girls who her mother groomed her to be through con scams. The Girls I've Been follows a dark story of abuse and tragedy that made Nora who she really is, and how she can survive both the bank robbery and her past.

Before I get into this review, I was to HIGHLY emphasize that you research all the trigger warnings going into this book. It is HEAVY and might be overwhelming with how much it covers in the span of 300+ pages.

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved this story. I actually really liked Nora! You really sympathize with her but also root for her along the way because of how smart and loving and protecting she is of her family and friends. Yes, she's had a dark past, and most of the time authors tend to use that as the only leverage to make you like a character. Tess Sharpe builds and molds Nora into her own person that is more than just her trauma, which I think is this story's greatest strength. Also, Nora's bisexual rep was a bit heavy handed at the beginning but mellowed out a lot to help build to the story.

Most of the minor characters I also loved! Iris was the loving but strong girlfriend with a nice quirk about her, and Wes is the protective and loving ex, but now best friend. They each have their own dark pasts with parents, and Wes's story is fleshed out a bit more than Iris's, but it adds more depth to them and I feel explains why they're all drawn to each other and love each other. Also Lee was such a badass.

The narrative telling of Nora's story I think was cleverly done. It often switches back and forth between the current scenes and the ones from her past with her mother and Raymond and how it shaped who she is today. It discusses in pretty heavy detail the cycle of abuse, both between parent and child and those in relationships, and doesn't really sugar coat it, which I feel was super important for the context of the story. I cannot say to what degree this accuracy is as I did not experience any of these triggers myself, so I recommend checking out some reviews of those who have and discuss it in their reviews.

The Girls I've Been is a fast-paced, captivating story that's as dark as it is inspirational and highly recommend everyone pick up this book if able.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Pregnancy

caregorman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

So I kinda unexpectedly loved this!? It has everything I could want: a fun twisty heist, an epic gay scammer morally grey protagonist, emotional found family… um yeah!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

beanzneo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is absolutely one of the best fucking books ive ever read. It is so powerful and informative while also keeping a fun fiction story. This book goes deep into the topics of surviving abuse and the way it shows Noras past and how that effects her now years later is incredible. The plot, storytelling, themes, characters, and everything else in this book are incredible and it will definitely be one of my life long favorites.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Kidnapping