Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh

8 reviews

al_davies_jones's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Pregnancy, Vomit, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

ashtheaudiomancer's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Unsure how to feel about this one. I certainly finished it quickly, and I found it gripping the whole way through. However, the story being told here is . . . distressing for reasons I don't think the author intended. Or maybe she did, and I'm just not getting it? I don't know. This is why I don't normally read literary novels. Well written, and I know the type of reader I'd recommend it to, but I am not that reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Incest, Gaslighting, and Rape

This book is set on an island that is basically a cult for women running from intimate partner abuse. The "disease" they say plagues the mainland may or may not be real.

frazilice's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Self harm

wcked's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

The Water Cure portrays generational trauma experienced by female communities in a realistic way. While the premise and the actions taken by the characters appear very extreme, the way trauma lingers even around communities that shouldn’t have been personally touched by it rings true. The author is quite talented at describing the world through her unique imageries; the problem is that they tend to be underdeveloped and underused, which made me feel like the book tried really hard to be “quotable”. Personally, I think that The Water Cure would’ve transmitted its message better if it was written in poetry form.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Miscarriage

caitlin1066's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

Okay, wow! So beautifully written and intense. It felt very confusing to begin with, but everything seemed to fall into place by the end. Definitely not a light-hearted read! There were extremely intense themes which were explained in such a way that I 100% see why they were added to the story. A tale of three sisters’ bond that is built on violence and abuse. Very metaphorical and poetic, what with the father figure being called King and the development of the male characters in the book. Some very harrowing scenes, some of the worst being Lia’s self harm and the ocean/baby scene. Thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend if you like books that are mysterious and dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Blood, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

karen191's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is weird and fucked up, but I really liked it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Murder

subtlebookish's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, and Torture

jourdanicus's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Self harm

Minor: Incest