Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Name She Gave Me by Betty Culley

5 reviews

readingonfordearlife's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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bookbuyingwithkatie's review

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challenging emotional 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? No

3.75

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maple_dove's review

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emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Favorite Quotes:

Defect and perfect are so close,/only two letters apart./If you say them fast,/defect perfect defect perfect,/they  almost sound the same.

I've had sixteen years/of being told I was chosen,/instead of the obvious fact/that I was given way,/and I'm ready for open now.

People can make you do/a lot of things,/but they can't make you talk./If they try,/it's called torture/and that's a fact.

A meeting with me and Ella?/I say my sister's name/as if it cancels out/Mom saying it.//Yes, Mom says,/and Ella's foster mother,/and me and Dad, too.//No one asked me/if I wanted Mom and Dad there/when I met my sister/for the first time.

I read the descriptions/of the children://"Coralynn loves sports?and has a lot of energy."/"Doria likes riding uer bike/and playing Legos."/"Ilana is a motivated student."/"Joseph loves horses/and would like to maintain contact/with his half brother and father."//I try to imagine/what they'd say about Ella://"Ella's loves animals./Ella's likes peppermint-stick ice cream./Ella is good at spying./Ella would like to maintain contact/with her sister, Sherry."//How could these sentences/or even a photo/explain what it feels like/when Ella's puts her sweaty little hand/in mine?

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libscote's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

Rynn's birth mother gave her the name "Scheherazade," although her adoptive parents changed it. She was born with a hole in her heart, and she feels the hole in her life from not knowing her birth family. She has an okay relationship with her adoptive father, and a not great one with her adoptive mother. They live on a garlic farm in central Maine (somewhere outside of Pittsfield, if my Maine geography guess is correct), and Rynn has a few friends and gets a job babysitting during the summer. She finds a way to find her birth family, and makes decisions on what to do with that information. 

Things I liked about this book: the complicated look at adoption it provides. It shows both the good sides and the bad sides, and all the complicated feelings around it.
Things I disliked: There's one twist that just felt too easy. To say more is a giant spoiler, but for me, if you don't buy that twist, there's a lot you have to take on faith afterward.
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marque's review against another edition

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

4.75

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