Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Antes de Que Llegaras / Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

41 reviews

maddiet425's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Child death, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: Pregnancy

ericadansereau's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book hurt to read, as it is inspired by true events surrounding the abominable Tennessee Children’s Home Society and the wicked Georgia Tann. It gutted me emotionally, but was so well written and ended so beautifully. Alternating between past and present timelines, this book was phenomenal. The author’s note and interview at the end are a must read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Confinement

spaghettireads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I know that people don’t read full captions, so I feel like I want to say off the top that I don’t think that I recommend this! It was a book club selection, and while it did provide a good discussion, I don’t think that any of us really loved this.

The sub-genre of historical fiction that generally features women looking away on the cover is not one that I usually reach for. While I did find the writing in this relatively engaging, and I did want to keep reading it to find out what the twist was at the end, I thought that the book had a lot of issues. Perhaps the fact that a real life historical tragedy has been written with the vibe of a mystery is the problem. As one of my friends pointed out, it felt as though just everything bad possible was happening to the characters.

And while I said that I was waiting for the final details to be revealed at the end, a lot of the book felt very predictable. My book club also talked about how the portrayal of people of colour, and mostly Black people in this story was pretty terrible.

So, as I said I wouldn’t recommend this. Thanks as always to my book club friends for a great discussion 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

bexdubyah's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Trafficking, Death of parent, Child death, Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism

bitesizedbeet's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I sped through this book, though it’s a tough read. I didn’t know anything about what Georgia Tann did going into it, but the author uses an informative yet sympathetic approach to telling the stories of those affected by her. Highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse

Moderate: Bullying and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Dementia

ashleycmms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Infertility, Grief, Dementia, Death, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death of parent, Excrement, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

morgan_elizabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Dementia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Miscarriage

ladev12's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Alcoholism

morganperks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia

giulia_and_books's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

This book is heavy and heartbreaking, made all the more intense by the fact that it’s based on true events. The characters and their experiences felt really real to me and it was hard for me to put the book down. 

I wanted to know how the present timeline and the past timeline met up in the end. I’m not usually one for multiple timelines and POVs, but Wingate handled it really well in this story. Typically I tend to want to focus on just one story line more than the other, and while I did find the past more interesting than following Avery around, I didn’t mind the bits and pieces of the present that added to the rich story from the past.

I have to mention that I love Wingate’s author’s note and guide in the back of the book. It was really interesting to read about how the Foss family came to fruition in her mind and how the characters found their voices.

I would recommend this book to most people, if they can handle the heavy trigger warnings and reality of this novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia