Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

7 reviews

novelyon's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-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

3.5

The development of Marisol and Rey's relationship was sweet and I enjoyed their parallel arcs as they both discover how they should each tackle their own grief and trauma in a healthy way. The sisterly dialogue between Marisol and Gabi was written very well. The greatest strength of this book was the conversations; each character had a distinct voice and personality, and it was always a joy to just read about the characters talking.
While I enjoyed the characters' arcs and relationships, I found the plot itself to be a bit slow (especially in the beginning, with multiple chapters explaining how the grief transfer works, which doesn't feel very important as this book is very light sci-fi anyway), and the themes could've been touched on with a little more depth. For a novel where the protagonist is a brown immigrant being exploited for a privileged white girl, it lets off the characters that caused and perpetuated that exploitation surprisingly, and disappointingly, lightly. Not only that, but I wish the book dealt with Gabi's trauma more as well; both sisters have been through so much yet the novel doesn't quite touch upon Gabi as it does Marisol; there are many moments where Marisol goes "she's been through so much," yet there are very few moments outside of a precious few lines of dialogue that show that Gabi and some of her behaviors may be processing her own traumas as well.
The ending was also quite abrupt:

Like they're searching for Gabi and her friend Juliette at this party but it ends when Marisol just finds Gabi...where was Juliette LOL

Overall, a wonderful book to read if you are invested for the relationships between the characters, but if one wants to read a book that really dives into the heavy topic of US immigration policy and exploitation, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Outing

Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Racism

mckeelyshannon's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

One of my favorite lines from this book is “A heaviness sits under my skin, above my bones—an invisible, smothering blanket. Pavor, angustia, pánico, a collection of heavy, gut-churning feelings. I am drowning.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault

lizzyc_16's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

this book was so fricking good. i'll write an organized review later...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Violence, Gun violence, Cursing, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual assault

courtneyfalling's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This made me cry multiple times. I'd call it primarily a sad, contemporary novel with speculative fiction elements to deepen the emotional side. All of the main characters feel drawn-out and almost blurry around their edges... it's a lot more about how things feel than who they are. Marisol especially is a complicated mix of fiercely stubborn and mostly passive or internal, which makes the book's pacing sometimes feel heavy. The beginning weighs down a lot, and then we finally get the bulk of important backstory and growth in the final chapters. I can't say I was ever enamored with Rey as a character or the budding relationship between her and Marisol, but they do have some lighthearted moments and I liked the deeper arc of Marisol letting go of her internalized lesbophobia. And the criticism of the US immigration system is very well-done

although I still feel like Indranie deserves a lot more comeuppance than she gets

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcohol

Additional CW for bomb attack/mass violence

gothicmoon's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

The Grief Keeper handles serious, difficult topics in a digestible manner for people the characters' age to understand. The writing is fluid and the plot simple with shocking touches, though the story itself doesn't quite linger after the book is over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Hate crime

mxfahrenheit's review

challenging 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

tay_mackenziemac's review

adventurous hopeful sad fast-paced

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

3.0

I’m in the middle ground with this book. I think the premise was great but the plot kind of flopped a bit toward the end. I also think some of the character personalities changed drastically which was surprising. However , it’s a really interesting premise and it covers some really challenging content respectfully and with nuance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual assault

Minor: Pedophilia