Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Los hombres que no amaban a las mujeres by Stieg Larsson

109 reviews

orangeslices's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

"Men Who Hate Women" was the original title of the Swedish thriller that later came to be known as "The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo." Each section of the book is prefaced with a statistic about the violence that is endured by Swedish women that goes unreported and consequently, unknown. Braced with the facts in mind, the plot unravels to an obvious conclusion about who is the perpetrator behind Harriet Vanger's disappearance. Drawn from the same vein, Stieg Larsson, falls into cliche trappings. The perspective pieces from Lisbeth falls flat - which is disappointing because I was so excited to meet her character - her punk looks and intelligent character was the main draw. Unfortunately, all of the women of import are drawn to Blomkvist (who's not very interesting) and women that are meant to be written as independent and whip smart (e.g. Erika and Lisbeth and Cecilia), they all fall for him and even draw up petty emotional "catfights" over him.
I really can't draw myself to read any more of the books because the debut book in the series falls flat.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Antisemitism, and Confinement

Minor: Animal death, Incest, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty

dishwaterpossum's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Oh this was so dark. I knew it was going to be but wheeeew. Great twists and turns through the Scandinavian landscape. I loved the breadth of the mystery and how it all dovetails together.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Incest, Torture, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

waldini's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Violence, Incest, Child abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

coldsmoakley629's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

5.0

VERY slow at first but then the puzzle comes together fast. Great series overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, and Murder

emma55's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

egothestar's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

cjfooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I had to restart this book about three times before it stuck.
I would agree with others that it's brilliantly written and deserves the praise it gets for how well rounded the characters are, how unique and unpredictable the plot is, and for the sheer emotion and attention is commands. It's definitely a book that sticks with you for sure, but please please make sure you check the triggers first.
However, it actually wasn't the brutal/intense scenes that made me restart it so many times, but how dense the start is. A key part of the plot does revolve around understanding finance and financial law, so we can understand what Mikael's (the main character) situation is. But I found myself losing interest and struggling to understand all the intricacies of this. (Disclaimer: I did had a very limited understanding of these going in).
For these reasons, I found that once I'd read about 150 pages, it was hard to put the book down, but prior to that, I struggled to stick with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Death, Torture, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Adult/minor relationship

ashlwy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

I feel like the sexual violence toward the female main character was unnecessary. Also the female characters in general aren’t given any substantial depth besides being a sexual objects. The mystery plot was fairly good and kept me going but the sexual violence subplot in the first half almost had me putting the book down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Incest, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Rape, and Animal death

Moderate: Car accident, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Death

bibicornxx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.75

I honestly dont know how to feel about this book. Its very definitely of its time, and also very obviously a predecessor of every trope to do with crime media of modern day. 

Lisbeth is an amazing character and also awful. she makes me want to rip my hair out, but i can also respect that shes so unique and different from every flimsy protagonist of today that i have to respect her.

blomkvist bored me to tears in some parts, but was oddly likeable in a few others? definitely found his perspective the most difficult to read at the start of the book.

the complicated family tree and legal issues definitely killed a few brain cells off, but the action parts (although few) brought them back.

overall, not a book i want to read again in a hurry, but one i have an odd amount of respect for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Rape, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Incest, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Antisemitism, Stalking, and Child abuse

rattledragons's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Cursing, Death, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Violence, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Car accident, Gaslighting, Torture, and Body shaming

Minor: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Eating disorder, and Police brutality