Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

42 reviews

inken66's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Self harm, Rape, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Death, Chronic illness, Child death, Child abuse, and Bullying

spaghettii's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

At first I thought it was predictable to have the mom be the murderer, so it definitely caught me off guard with that second twist. I liked that it incorporated a lot of psychological influences behind the murders.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

rebeccajben's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

0.5

I genuinely hated this book I would not have read this if Sofia didn’t annotate it for me. Tbh her annotations were what got me through. I’m terrible at predictions but I guessed the plot so damn quick and the mediocre twist at the end was not enough to redeem this even a little bit. Reading this was so deeply unpleasant and I felt sick the whole time lol. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Torture

nicole_zx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Self harm

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Sexual harassment

eliwal's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Homophobia

Minor: Cursing and Alcohol

blueroo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Really good read but the triggers are incredible. If you have a trigger, this book WILL activate it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Chronic illness, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Vomit

zakcebulski's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Dude, holy fuck. This book was a lot. Full disclosure, this is the first book that I have read by Gillian Flynn, though I did see the movie Gone Girl.  I had no idea what to expect, but, good golly, did this book deliver on a the expectations that I didn't know I had. This book is the story of a Chicagoan reporter going to their home town in Missouri that they left to investigate a series of child murders. This set up, admittedly, sounded like one pretty general crime thriller stuff- but holy shit did Gillian Flynn take that basic sounding plot and mutate it and build it into something that is truly, truly, horrifying.
I think that the way in which Flynn so expertly writes the nuance of parental figures who display narcissistic personality traits is bone chilling, coming from someone who has experienced that sort of behavior for years and years- it was unsettling to read. There were points wherein Adora- Camille's mother (the Narrator) said or acted in a way that reminded me to near exactly what I have experienced- super fucking creepy, to be honest.
I really appreciated the way in which the home of Adora, where Camille stays throughout her time in her home town became near cancerous- every time Camille said that she was going to the house, I felt a sense of "please don't!" because it was such a horrifically negative place.
I will say that I did feel a guess of the twist of the story pretty early on- for the sole reason that the character was so sinister, that it struck me that it was probably going to be the twist. I did not see the use of Munchausen By Proxy being used to such chilling effect. I have to say, hearing that Adora got locked up... chef's kiss. What a horrid person, though Gillian Flynn wrote her to horribly exquisite effect. 
However, the second twist regarding Amma, Camille's half-sister, being the actual killer of the two girls I did not see coming until the last 10 or so pages, but, hey, I thought it was interesting as shit. There was a chill sent down my spine when it was revealed that all of the girls that Amma hung out with were all in on the plot- like a regular band of Zebra Killers....
I think that the complexity of the relationship between Camille, Adora and Amma throughout is an absolutely compelling aspect of the story, as we are largely in the dark, until we are told what has been happening.
I thought that the sexual side of the book was super uncomfortable to read- I felt gross throughout every instance of sexual discussion, as they were either under the influence of drugs, alcohol, both, or were the sexual exploits of people underage- which I have to be honest- really knocked the book down, because it was so abhorrent to read about. 
The other part of the story that I thought didn't tie up exactly super well was the Richard/ Camille love arc. It seems like it just ended with a "yeah it's over" deal. Camille's statement about her scarring seems like a wrap around back to her trauma with self harm, which I understand though the use of it to end the relationship didn't work out for me. Though, I suppose it was supposed to tie back in with Camille's obsessive need to self harm, and how she truly could not escape the ramifications which it had on her life. I did think that this was not may favorite way to end the relationship with them. I feel like Richard was truly pretty slimy, and would have liked to have seen Camille really rip in to Richard for using her and have things end like that. 
Over all, I thought that this book was fantastic! The story was compelling and I absolutely devoured this book!I am ecstatic to read other books by Gillian Flynn. What an absolute treat this book was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

clairevalley's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

cynthia_l's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Child abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug use, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

lillykhaokham's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Drug abuse

Minor: Sexual harassment