Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh

19 reviews

jbfletcher's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Vomit, Violence, and Emotional abuse

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

sarahkheeter's review

dark mysterious sad slow-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

3.75

I’m feeling really impacted by other people’s bad/unimpressed reviews. Initially I felt this book was unbearably slow, but it got better once the men show up (this is in the synopsis, so no spoilers). It definitely picks up and interested me much more after that point. The mystery around the characters and in the backdrop of the main plot is really interesting and dark. I’m not sure anything about this is inspiring, empowering, or even really insightful, but it’s certainly critical of patriarchal control and toxicity and shattering and has a lot of shock value. I think it had potential to be mind blowing and life alteringly good, but instead I would say it’s just dark, mysterious, and fascinating. Don’t read spoilers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Xenophobia, Death, Miscarriage, Violence, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Murder, Misogyny, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Rape, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Incest

applesodaperson's review

mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

This book was very underwhelming. I think it wanted to be a spooky, folk horror, weird girlhood kind of book, but I really think it failed on all fronts. It ended up being a very messy and confusing, and the parts that weren’t were just boring. 
One thing was that I wished the setting would have been more solidly defined. I feel like I couldn’t visualize the setting or the house, because it wasn’t really described enough. Like is the house fancy? Because I thought it was supposed to be really rural and off grid but then they have a swimming pool? Also, what time period was this supposed to be? I also wished the characters would have been more solidly defined. I felt like I couldn’t visualize what anyone looked like or how old they were. And none of the characters really had backstories or context, which made things confusing. I also wish there was also more explanation on the main family and how they became how they are with all the rituals. 
Another thing I didn’t like was that there was too much of Lia’s point of view. I would have really liked to see more from Grace and Sky and their thoughts on certain events. But I also found the characters annoying. Like with the main man character, I found myself rolling my eyes at him constantly. And the other characters, like Lia, were naive, annoying, and not very compelling. And their character growth felt shallow.
Overall, I really wanted to like this book, but it was way too long without saying anything, and  there was literally no point in the entire book where I felt any suspense.
Listened to on Libby.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Sexual assault and Violence

rheagoveas's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, and Self harm

schorlett's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Incest, Death of parent, Self harm, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

amy_park's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

4.5

This book is a short feminist dystopian that slow burns. Incredibly eeiry and claustrophobic, I thought overall  it was really good. Going in I was cautious as I didn't enjoy 'Cursed bread', my apprehension was short lived as I was compelled from the start. I enjoyed the writing style and the closed setting. The water and decaying imagery was great, added another creepy element to the novel. I did feel the pace was very slow in some places, which is surprising as its only a short book, although this was great and good for the book, it did make me a bit reluctant to pick it up at times. I would recommend and especially encourage people to read if they also didn't gel with Sophie Mackintosh's other novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Child death and Suicide

breanneporter's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Sigh. This just wasn’t for me. It’s quite dark, with far more descriptions of abuse and torture than I had expected, and I’m not totally sure how to feel at the end. It was quite slow and I agree with other reviewers who said it might have functioned better as a novella, or if Grace had been the primary narrator instead of Lia. I wouldn’t recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Torture, Physical abuse, Violence, Self harm, and Child abuse

awaywiththefairies's review against another edition

The writing is gorgeous, it's just too traumatic to read for me 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia

hettyreads's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Rape, and Torture