Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

52 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

I had quite a good time with this book, and I kept picking it up to find out more of the story as it unfolded. I'll definitely look at this author again. I appreciated the unease of the book and not being sure if the narrators are reliable. Trauma all over the place.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Rape, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Chronic illness, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty and Blood

kaitlyns22's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Vomit, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

thehmkane's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Animal death, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Death, Rape, Infidelity, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, Body shaming, and Gaslighting

Minor: Homophobia, Medical content, Stalking, and Medical trauma

ekilburn529'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? It's complicated

4.5

Great writing. I love an unreliable narrator. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty

passionatereader78's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

A tragic story with a happy ending. Reading this book was heartbreaking. A family falls on hard times and let's the wrong people move in. The  Irresponsible Adults were ruining their children's lives by abusing and starving them. This is a must read thriller. There were so many Twist and turns in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Confinement, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

peeshpish's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

It was a slow start but once it picks up, it moves fast. The story flows well once the three POVs become more closely intertwined & the connections are more clear. There are many twists & turns along the way, & the story continues to develop until the very last sentence. Libby’s POV is an often needed relief from the heaviness of the other two, much less tense but still moves the story forward. Many characters felt flat or aligned with stereotypes that I’d expect more from a book written earlier than one written in 2019, but I still ended up reading most of the book in one sitting so I was definitely invested.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Murder, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Misogyny

Minor: Suicide, Homophobia, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Infertility, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Blood, and Pedophilia

Lucy’s chapters are heavy with

sexual assault & domestic violence. She is raped & murders her attacker. If it helps to know, she is not punished for killing him.

The chapters set in the past (labelled “Chelsea, [year]”) contain a lot lf

child abuse, domestic violence, & are where most of the content warnings come into play.

Libby’s chapters are generally safe for content, mostly vague details about the fate & story of the people who lived in the house she inherits.

thatdevonchick's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

alexis_something_rose's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.75

this one is so so difficult to rate, because although i could see how it could make a good read, it probably just isn’t for me.
maybe i should invest more time into researching the content warnings rather than picking up books just because.
the story kept me turning pages, and the plot is mapped out pretty well, except the occasional plot hole, and i was quite riveted and definitely very terrified.
that said, the characters felt a bit flat to me, but then again, that may well be because i didn’t exactly vibe very well with the story overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Drug use, and Rape

bibliophileroxy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Rape

lyla_wicks's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

this was a good book and it did have an interesting premise, but a lot of it felt quite predictable and i was expecting a lot bigger of a twist by the end of it. i did like how it had interesting, and unreliable characters, but i was a bit confused with the continous pov switching and timeline of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Rape and Adult/minor relationship