Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

16 reviews

shannananahey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Death, Misogyny, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual violence, Bullying, Drug use, Drug abuse, Antisemitism, Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer, Body shaming, and Child death

ldruckreier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, and Forced institutionalization

ettbokland's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Death

omdenman's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Antisemitism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism

dalmavatai's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

This book was a great mystery with memorable characters. I especially enjoyed Katie, Cece, Roberta and Sonya as characters, I really loved their friendship and how they try to navigate life in a girls' boarding school in the 1950s while also having to deal with the trauma of abandonment as well as other traumas that they gradually open up to each other about. It was such a joy to see them find friendship, love, and trust through each other, things that they had never encountered in life before. 

The present timeline was also entertaining, I enjoyed Fiona's investigation and her efforts to uncover what happened to Sonya as well as her own sister Deb. I didn't connect with her or care about her as much as I did about the girls in the past timeline, but I did enjoy the amateur sleuth trope, I love when a character is investigating a mystery and has to talk to people, question them, uncover documents, etc. 

The ending was a bit anticlimactic for me, I expected the twists to be more shocking and satisfying in wrapping up the story. I still liked them, though, I did not see them coming and one was especially interesting. 

Overall, a dark, tense, emotional read with lovable characters and an engaging investigation. A memorable read even if I was a bit let down by the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Antisemitism, Genocide, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Blood and Grief

ceejay's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Child death, and Abandonment