Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour

55 reviews

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

“I'm learning that it's good to think about what scares you. To bring it into the light. Even to hold it in your hands, if you can, and feel how it can't hurt you anymore. To think of it and say, 'I am not afraid.” 

➽ Watch Over Me is another haunting story by Nina LaCour who writes melancholy and healing so well. We follow Mila, who just aged out of the foster system and is invited to intern as a teaching assistant at a remote farm. I really liked the setting as it's isolated and haunted by ghosts that Mila has been able to see since she was little. The magical realism element fits well into the story and the author's writing style. Mila has been through a lot before she ended up in the foster system and it's slowly coming to light the longer she stays at the farm. I loved the themes of healing from trauma and confronting your personal ghosts. Mila isn't used to belonging anywhere so the farm is her chance at finding a place and family of her own. I especially liked the bond she had with Lee, a young boy who is her only student so far. He's also been through a lot and Mila is determined to help him heal from that.

➽ I only wish the story had been longer and more fleshed out. Apart from Lee, most characters felt one-dimensional and we didn't get to know them as well. The other adopted children didn't have any personality. There was more potential in the story and with more time we could have used that to deepen the story. Aspects like Mila's relationship with Liz and Lee were underdeveloped and not really resolved.

I had the impression that Mila was crushing on Liz, but nothing came of it. For a while I thought there would be a polyamorous relationship between the three of them, but nothing came of it.

While I liked the writing, it could sometimes be a bit too simple and overall the story didn't stand out to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Emotional abuse

_pauline's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Nina LaCour captures loneliness and trauma in a unique yet imo accurate & relatable way.  I‘m saying this as someone who - just like with Hold Still - doesn’t actually relate to the trauma the mc has experienced (fortunately), which could either mean that it has to be exceptionally well done in order for me to feel that way or that I simply don’t know what I‘m talking about, that’s for other people to decide.

I did find the flashback scenes quite disturbing/unsettling but I know they were meant to, I know that’s the point of them.

I really liked the storyline with Lee

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

samgelbert's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Utterly devastating. I wasn’t expecting the heaviness or the ghosts so I didn’t properly prepare myself for this story. It’s really dark and I suppose the end was a relief but I’m still feeling shook from the emotion. I’m not sure how to rate it; perhaps I’ll come back and Polish this review when I have more time to process. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Abandonment, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

hyperashley's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Death, and Physical abuse

paytonnmoore's review against another edition

reflective fast-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

lady_bountiful's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

lilly_anne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, Medical content, and Abandonment

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood

Minor: Animal death and Car accident

there's a scene in the book where the main protag listens in on a couple having sex then masturbates to it this isn't exactly a tw warning for anything specific but the main protag was... weirdly possessive of a child in the story and not in a 'I see you as my kid and want to protect you way'

aquariusisms's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Child abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Death

Minor: Car accident

aidrielle's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.0

i can always count on nina lacour for sad gay girlies representation!!!! love how it talked about how affirming it is to have a found family, but also how dangerous it is to have to rely on other people for certain things. in the end, our personal growth is mostly really up to ourselves. the writing was so beautiful, and the narrator read it all so beautifully.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Blood, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Panic attacks/disorders