Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

80 reviews

captainpantsless's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Animal death

alexxm13's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

this book is a rollercoaster with all these characters and sometimes difficult to remember as so much is happening and goes back and forth between characters to timeline and can be confusing, also david who is 40 having the ding dong with two 14 year olds and making them pregnant disgusts me and this is why i hate men also with henry and phin i was cheering on with their relationship but then it turned out henry is obsessive and a creep with phin and just wanting to kill him as phin impregnated henry’s sister lucy and to give birth to libby. i feel bad for libby as she was just a baby in which all 4 children/teens abandoned to cover up the murder henry did to his parents and david by drugging them. what seemed like a cult/suicide mission turned out to be a murder by a 16 year old and help of other teens in the house after being trapped for 2 years. i thought it was a good story and twists and turns but the structure of it was too confusing for my to keep hold of.

lisa jewel another jem of a book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

hibba's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Violence

hannahgough's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Gore, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Rape, Murder, and Pedophilia

siob___'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

I can't remember for the life of me where I heard about this book, so I went into it with no expectations or preconceived notions. I was pleasantly surprised when this book gripped me, and did not want to let go ! I was completely enthralled from the very beginning, and I ended up reading the last 2/3 of it in one go. However, the twists and turns went into some odd directions.

So this is another book that has multiple POV. (How do I keep picking these up ?) There is also two different timelines. Thinking back on it, it did make me feel like I was reading two different books, as one of the POVs is very removed from the other two.

The last 50 pages is where the book lost me. I thought this was going to be a very solid 4 star read for me, but then there was a reveal that just did not sit well with me. (I will discuss it in the spoilers below) The characters then act OOC to create an ending that just does not make much sense. It felt really unbelievable, but I only knocked off half a star, as I really loved the rest of the book.

I was really having a good time with this book until it decided that one of the twists should be a 41 year old man impregnating a 14 year old girl. It kinda lost me at that point, and the rest of the story kinda went downhill from there. It's disappointing, because I loved the buildup to the end, but then it just fell flat and was completely unbelievable.

Something else I really do not understand about the ending is how trusting everyone is. The main character, Libby, thinks someone is living in a room in her newly acquired house. She has a journalist with her, Miller, to try and catch who this is. It turns out to be her long lost uncle (who introduces himself with another name at first). Libby and Miller go to his place to learn more about what happened at the house. The next day they are locked in the room they slept in. They also believe that he may have drugged them, and they for sure think he took their phones and tampered with them. After all of that Libby immediately trusts this dude when it's revealed that he's actually her uncle. No one questions his actions, and they all become one big happy family. It is truly bizzare to me.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Confinement

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Animal death

emeraldalchemist's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Murder, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia

utelylivin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

This one wasn't really a "thrilling" to me, but I liked how the story jumped between the perspectives of multiple narrators. It kept me interested to keep going. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Suicide, Rape, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Blood, Cancer, and Child death

xsophiecat's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood, Death, and Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Pedophilia

The premise was intriguing, but sadly the ending did not deliver the promises made earlier on. The concept of

the unreliable narrator

could have been used to greater effect; in actuality, what happened was

some slight confusion and meerest hint of danger

. Overall, I would have been far more satisfied with the weird, grotesque ending/explanation that was hinted at throughout, rather than the more timid ending given.

buecher_und_huehner's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Rape