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jacktherapper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Grief, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Child death, Death, Incest, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
velmad's review against another edition
4.5
Very surprisingly , the main characters experiences with family mirror a lot of mine, right from the grandmother to the mother .
The author , still have a pass more than I think she should have to Elle's mother. She wasn’t a good mother . She was neglectful and selfish and narcissistic. She allowed her men to abuse her daughters emotionally and put her daughters in harms way. It still sounded a bit like her mom was a wonderful person but maybe , true to my life , that next generation will come out even cleaner than Elle and Anna.
I can see how she ended up having an affair. I don’t like it but I see how it happened .
Most definitely this was a difficult read to get through but it was very well wrote.
The only marks I took off were because I often couldn’t keep track of the characters and jumping back and forth was done differently than I had ever read before.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
sazzzberry's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Grief, Stalking, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage
abbiekwilliams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Cancer, Incest, Infertility, and Terminal illness
mdal26's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, and Gaslighting
claudia_moreira's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
fabi1998's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
thewordapothecary's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
abi_sarah's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Overall I enjoyed this book for it’s immersive nature, the descriptions of the settings made it so easy to escape to the seaside with Elle and her family and follow her story intently.
However, it took me a while to read because I wasn’t gripped by it, I was intrigued but not gripped. The urge to pick up the book was only there to carry on reading - for the escapism, not because I absolutely had to know what happened next.
This book reminded me of the familial dramas of ‘Little Fires Everywhere’ by Celeste Ng. I am coming to realise that I really enjoy novels with imperfect families, reading about how they communicate during times of conflict and what circumstances can push familial ties to breaking point.
Miranda Cowley Heller writes excellently about the truly awful realities of rape. Including that the perpetrator is nearly always someone the victim knows, and what’s worse - someone the victim knows well. This circumstance makes the aftermath for the victim all the more difficult to deal with. Heller describes Elle’s trauma and the way she deals with it in the most matter of fact, yet sympathetic way. Some parts of this book were honestly extremely hard to read, it all just felt so real, so painful. As the reader, I developed so much sympathy for Elle.
When Elle finally tells her mother who the real perpetrator of her rape was, you can literally feel her release of breath through the pages. You feel her shoulders relax and her brow flatten.
I would have given this 5 stars, but there were parts where I just wasn’t fussed one way or the other if I picked it back up to read. So it’s a 4 star for me.
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming and Dementia
lsm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy