Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Il caos da cui veniamo by Lucia Olivieri, Tiffany McDaniel

178 reviews

hespib's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Wow this was a beautiful book. After reading and loving A Little Life last year, I naively thought nothing could be more traumatic than that, but I was wrong. This was very graphic and hard to read in parts so definitely check the content warnings before going in. 

That said, the prose is so lyrically stunning and the story of family and coming of age brings plenty of beauty despite the many harrowing incidents. I loved the stories Landon tells and the meaning they have despite knowing they’re made up if only you choose to see beyond that. 

I love this book even more for being based on a true story. Immediately after finishing, I wanted to know more about the family and found a page on Tiffany McDaniel’s website including photos and further detail about Betty and the rest of the family, including that beyond the book (photos of Betty in 2020 🥹). I would really recommend reading that after the book as it brings the story to life even more and you appreciate how much of a feat this novel is, both for Tiffany to have written it about her own family and for her family to have lived through it and seemingly prospered on the other side despite significant adversity. 

Devastating but so beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death and Racism

jordyfrombookclub's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Child abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, Child death, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, Torture, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

This book barely lets you come up for air. It ties you up with a thin chain of hope and beauty as it drags you rampant abuse and family trauma. Not for the faint of heart (me).

fraggle1982's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Racism

xoxochannychan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was the darkest I've read in a very long time. I almost had to DNF it. A very difficult read for mature audiences only. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Animal death, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Grief, Murder, Racism, Addiction, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

pandaamy's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Racism, Abortion, and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug abuse

airr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Rape, Alcohol, Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death, Toxic relationship, Racism, Animal death, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Medical content, Gun violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

jordynkw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Sexism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Incest, Sexual violence, Child death, Colonisation, Suicide, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism

booksillremember's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

It's as lyrical as it is lifelike, as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking, full of love and kindness and the most harrowing events I've ever read about. It hits hard, even more so given it's based on McDaniel's real family story. (Go to tiffanymcdaniel.com for more background information and pictures).

The father-daughter bond is one of the most beautiful I've seen, yet I was annoyed with the father for his 'delusional treatment' of reality - until it started to make sense. 

I'm glad McDaniel finally got to publish this book after 20 years of fighting for it and being rejected because a 'boy protagonist would sell better'. And I'm grateful to the women who shared their stories.

This book would have been 5 stars for me if it had been 150ish pages shorter. It was quite hard to get through because it felt repetitive to me. I understand that this repetition might just be there to capture the nature of growing up financially poor and naturally rich in the Appalachians.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Racism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Violence, Incest, Self harm, Rape, and Sexual violence

mald626's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual assault, Bullying, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Child death, Self harm, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Death, and Abortion

Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

ragoreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Suicide, Miscarriage, Rape, Animal death, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, and Racism