Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - What We Both Know

It’s like getting to see Chekhov’s gun for the entire book, seeing someone take the safety off for a brief moment, put it back on, and then end the story.

Content Warnings

iamnita's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

1.0

I did not enjoy this read - but I wanted to stick it out for where it went. I was disappointed that the writing didn't make sense to me - and I left feeling too "stupid" to understand what was happening. Perhaps I don't understand the techniques being used.
Further, I didn't see where the book was going, nor understood what was happening while it was happening, nor enjoyed where it went. I felt like things were thrown in (like the dog dying) that had no bearing on anything else. I also didn't understand the pacing - sometimes it was moment to moment, sometimes it was day to day, and sometimes there had to gaps between that I didn't really understand.
I don't understand the link to My Dark Vanessa - this isn't that, nor in its ballpark. It's a story that goes very very differently, and only shares the sexual assault component - but it isn't even about her. It's about her dead sister. There's also no justice in this case.

Content Warnings

mothumn's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark slow-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

3.0

Arc Review
I thought this was an interesting and well written look into a very serious and not often touched topic. It was quite slow paced which made it hard to get through but it’s written in a way that really makes you feel like you are in the narrator's head. You bear witness to her every thought and the way her mind works around the things she is finding out and trying to find an answer to it all. I personally felt like the book was very vague on the topic in a way that made it seem like maybe she was possibly making it all up in her head, that maybe was jumping to conclusions about things that she had nothing to back up, which I dont think was the point. I thought it was a very interesting point of view to tell this from, despite my previous criticism I think the point of the book still stands. The closeness of the relationship, between a daughter and a father, was interesting to see her reaction to finding out what he had done. It was definitely a very dark topic to tackle and it was done very respectfully, although I do think that it could have done more and said a solid take on the issue.

Content Warnings

More...