Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

204 reviews

victoriathegoddess'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Abandonment

luliposatieris's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.75

i loved this book. I loved the writing style, how it reflected so well on Juliette’s state of mind, how it evolved throughout the book, her relationship with Adam, i just loved everything. The plot was good, it had a fast pace and short chapters, it kept me hooked. I’m left with SO many questions unanswered so it lowers my rating a little bit.

i don’t get why Warner is so loved throughout this series and Adam is so hated on. I don’t understand Warner’s motives and his actions, he’s an enigma for me. I don’t understand anything he does or says, like when he said he loved her i was like ????? since when. I’d like to see him explain more in these next books.
Adam is so sweet, i think he is a little overprotective though but he’s still my n1 ship with Juliette. It really intrigues me how Tahereh Mafi is going to make me love Warner and hate Adam, because at this point i feel it the other way around. 

i’ll read destroy me to have a warner pov because i need it and then i’ll read unravel me.
Juliette <3 she’s so strong and amazing, i love her. I love that she has a weak state of mind, her chain of thought is so disorganized but she’s still questioning things about the people and places around her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

c_e_w's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

katherine20's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

hannibanani29's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Sexual content, Slavery, Medical content, Death of parent, and War

generalchan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

claire_fitzgibbon13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this, i’m definitely going to continue to read the series. I couldn’t put this down and literally read it in 2 days. I love Juliette and Adam and also love Warner despite him being an ass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Confinement

Minor: Sexual content

valreadssometimes's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.0

This is probably the definition of a guilty pleasure read. It’s not a masterpiece, or even “good”, book, but I found myself having a good time reading (for the most part). 

Okay, now that that’s out of the way here’s my honest review: 
The writing style of this book was confusing and wordy. When I first started the book, I was really frustrated with the unnecessary figurative language that did nothing to improve the descriptions or add emotion. I do enjoy some pretty words once in a while, but with this book it felt kind of like someone was trying to fit as many similes and metaphors in, even if they were completely necessary or distracted from the focus of the writing. I did get used to it like a third of the way into the book, so do with that what you will.
When I picked this book up, I thought it was going to be very dark and dystopian with some slight romance. What I got was pure romance, maybe too much of it to really call this a “thrilling dystopian novel.” I honestly didn’t mind too much though, since I’m a sucker for a good romance (I did kind of mind later though, but I’ll get into that in a moment). 
The main character is okay, and I didn’t really have an issue with her personality. She wasn’t an annoying protagonist, but she was obsessed with the main lead at times where it was super inappropriate. But yeah, this is a romance, so if you know what you’re getting into it’s not too bad.
Now, let's discuss the love interests.  They were both kind of walking red flags, but it’s okay. Who needs healthy relationships in YA literature? 
Adam, the main lead and the one who “gets the girl” in this book is a soldier. He’s kind and compassionate and had been in love with the main lead since childhood. He does get kind of weird at times, and I felt like he was lying to the protagonist more often than not. He’s also like overly protective and jealous, which is something. He’s probably not the best, and he got together with the main girl way too quickly, but he’s probably an angel compared to the other lead. 
Speaking of problematic: Warner. He’s the second love interest, which is weird because he kidnaps Juliette and basically imprisons her. He’s the young, morally grey (which should really be completely immoral) leader of a district under the tyrannical government. He is a trained killer, and he kills people or puts them in harm’s way for no reason other than to assert power or to have some sort of twisted fun. He’s just misunderstood though, his father is mean to him so that totally excuses every horrible war crime ever (sarcastic). Oh yeah, he also forces himself on Juliette while preaching that he wants it to be “her choice” to love him. There’s a scene near the end of the book that is blatant sexual harassment from him. He sucks, but he has more personality than Adam.

Overall, not good. 
Am I going to read the next book? Yes. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death

ravensandlace's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

4.0

Title: Shatter Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Genre: Young Adult Dystopia

Format: paperback book from the library

Series: Shatter Me

Star Rating: 4 stars

tw: injury, beatings, murder, gun violence, child death, child abuse and neglect, torture

I get it. I totally get the hype surrounding this book and the series as a whole. I was so hooked the whole time. I couldn’t read fast enough. All I wanted to do was read this book because I had to see how it ended and I had to see what happened next. I stayed up far too late reading this book. It was so worth it though. 

The three main characters, Juliette, Adam, and Warner, were so fleshed out and well-developed. Seeing Juliette’s progression of character was so lovely. She still has a lot to learn but I’m happy with how well she grew. There were times when I was annoyed with her but then I remembered how neglected she was and so I forgave her for annoying me. I also adored Adam and Warner. My liking Warner was surprising. I don’t care much for morally grey characters but Warner was different. I understood where he was coming from. The love triangle was surprisingly well done. Normally, love triangles annoy me but this one was great. I didn’t know who to root for it. Both were equally great and awful for Juliette at the same time. 

I do have one complaint about this otherwise awesome book. It’s a small complaint, really. There were far too many metaphors. The whole book was just one metaphor right after the other. The only time there weren’t metaphors was when the characters were talking. I don’t know if that’s the way Juliette thinks or what, but wow, they got to be annoying. It may be the way she has been neglected for years but I’m not sure. Just tell me how it is and move on. I don’t need all the fluff. 

Overall, this was a great book. I absolutely love it and managed to get my library to stock the whole series for me. Of course, I’m still going to buy it but it was still awesome for the librarian to do that for me. I think it would be an awesome movie if they got a good director, like the one from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, or the other director as well. I’m so glad that I read this book. I’m always so late when it comes to hyped-up books. I’ve been burned so many times so I was nervous. I can’t wait to read the next one. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

thegr1mreader's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Sexual harassment